(Image source from: Arizona Daily Star)

A group of real estate agents on Tuesday formally launched their bid to remove flexibility from state lawmakers on what should be taxed.

Over 400,000 signatures were submitted by Arizona Association of Realtors on petitions to put a measure on the November ballot to prohibit constitutionally a state sales tax on services, including everything from their own services to medical care, barbers, lobbying services, and weight-loss centers.

A Prescott real estate agent Holly Mabery, who chairs the effort, said the desire is to defend senior citizens and the poor from new taxes that a future Legislature might enforce. But Mabery acknowledged that the ballot measure if approved in November, would forestall lawmakers from revamping what is and is not taxed in a way that actually might have more benefit to those on fixed incomes.

Under current law, lawmakers could opt to make those purchases tax-exempt, making up any lost revenues by taxing selected services. Or they could expand the list of what's taxable to include services and reduce the overall state sales tax rate from its current 5.6 percent.

But this initiative, if approved in November, would block lawmakers from taxing not just basic services like medical care, but also accounting, advertising, public relations, travel arrangements, nail salons, portfolio management and investment advice. And that, Mabery said, is precisely the purpose of the initiative.

The measure will be on the ballot if the Secretary of State's Office determines that at least 225,963 of those signatures are valid. That November ballot could be crowded with issues for voters to decide.

On Thursday, petitions are expected to be filed for a measure financed by a California billionaire to require Arizona utilities to produce at least half their power from renewable sources by 2030. That is being fought by the state’s utilities who point out that nuclear is not included in that list.

By Sowmya Sangam