Major Taxpayers in Pinal County
The top ten tax bills, payers in Pinal County| June 13, 2025
While everyone who owns property pays taxes on their ownership, the income from commercial properties are taxed at higher rates and generate significantly more in taxes as opposed to a primary residence (your home). Below is a list of the property value of the top ten commercial properties that are taxed in Pinal County.
As you can discern, these companies are all, utilities. One of the more complex aspects of valuing such companies is they have operations that cross county lines. Ergo, the individual County Assessors have zero involvement in processing the property taxes for these entities. Instead, the Arizona Department of Revenue has appraisers on staff for that purpose. Once the total value is determined, each county is apportioned a share of the taxes based on a percentage of the assets physically in the respective county. (This is the basic explanation, there are several more layers that have to be considered before a final number emerges.) Also, the utility companies habitually sue the Department of Revenue over valuations and those suits last for years, and when decided can dramatically change the amount of taxes that counties receive-or must rebate.
Assessors have protested for years that this process is too obscured and esoteric. The salient problem arises when the County staff tries to develop a budget for the upcoming year to present to the County Board of Supervisors. The Board, by law, has to produce and approve a budget by July 1st, subject to modification later based on external funding sources.
Who Regulates the Utilities?
The top payor in the list is Arizona Public Service, which is regulated by Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). Recently, two of the sitting members of the ACC were in SaddleBrooke as they are up for re-election in 2026. Nick Meyers and Kevin Thompson. Shortly before their appearance it was announced that both are being challenged by fellow Republicans. Ostensibly, Meyers and Thompson are not towing a conservative line in their voting and therefore need to be replaced.
Who is Jake Hoffman?
Hoffman is a state senator from northern Pinal County, LD-15. His district is centered in Queen Creek. Hoffman has taken the mantle of leader of the Freedom Caucus which purports to represent the true right wing of the Republican Party. In that role, he is recruiting candidates to run against Democrats, as expected, but more unusually, also been recruiting candidates to challenge sitting Republican officeholders. Thus, he has anointed State Rep. David Marshall and State Rep. Ralph Heap as the usurpers for the ACC.
Hoffman, as reported here, has also recruited outgoing State Treasurer Kimberly Yee to challenge incumbent State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne. Again, the charge being Horne’s lack of fealty to conservative preferences in his job.
The biggest boost Hoffman gives to the challenging candidates is a state-wide network of conservative voters who are connected by the Charlie Kirk led Turning Point organization and money. Primaries are won by the true believers and activists in either party. (Democrats very rarely challenge incumbents in their party.)
