Property taxes in Tucson are still increasing between 7 and 12 percent due to what is said to be increasing home values in the area. Most of the Tucson area school districts, the city of Tucson and Pima County have lowered their tax rates though. The disaster in the mortgage industry could hit homeowners hard who need tax relief. These new tax rates are for the 2007 valuations which should have been received last year and next year’s tax bill will be determined by 2008 valuations which were sent out this spring.

The Green Living Fair hosted by Nina Trasoff will be held at the Ward 6 City Council Office 3202 E First Avenue in Tucson on Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. 520-791-4601. This is the Go Green 11 Sustainability Resource Event where you will be offered tips about alternative fuel vehicles, land management as well as water harvesting from over 30 local Tucson and national associations that are devoted to making those ‘green’ changes to the environment. Home Depot will supply low-energy light bulbs and Safeway will offer cloth grocery bags for free.

Recent studies show that there are less paychecks being sent home from Mexican workers employed in the United States. Many of these employees worked in construction and that has slowed tremendously in the U.S. as well as the Tucson area. The Inter-American Development Bank, Bank of Mexico and the Pew Hispanic Center have data that the percentage of those workers sending money home dropped significantly in the first half of 2007 and that approximately only half of those workers were here legally. Due to the high cost of an automobile, food, gas and rent many of these immigrants are left with very little, if anything from pay-check to pay-check and therefore nothing to send back to Mexico.

First Magnus in Tucson lays off close to 750 workers with a total job loss across the nation at nearly 6,000. The basic problems First Magnus faced were lending money and immediately selling to investors and then finding that it could not sell the loans. First Magnus Financial is trying to help it’s former employees find jobs through job fairs and with other businesses but it may be hard for them to find work in the same field or at the same rate of pay.

People were shocked when First Magnus Financial Corp. put an abrupt stop to lending money for mortgages yesterday. Many employees are now out of work and those Tucson businesses that were somehow tied to First Magnus will share in the loss of their ability to lend money and also of their charitable contributions to many Tucson events in the future. Real Estate Agents and hope-to-be buyers are quickly looking to alternatives. Unfortunately the collapse of this huge financial corporation signifies long-term housing market troubles and any home related businesses in Tucson as well.

As of today, First Magnus Financial Corp in Tucson will no longer be funding home mortgage loans and may well be closing it’s doors. This is a similar situation to that of American Home Mortgage. First Magnus may follow in those footsteps and file for bankruptcy protection. Tom Sullivan Sr., Tom Sullivan Jr. and G.S. Jaggi founded First Magnus in 1996 and are involved in several other businesses in the Tucson area. First Magnus has been lending money across the country in all 50 states, funding over $30 billion in loans in 2006.

Close to 400 TUSD workers held a protest at district headquarters. The staffers and teachers find the small 1 percent increase to be an insult! TEA didn’t expect anything less than the state’s increase which is approximately 3 percent. It appears that the district spent their money in other ways that are meaningful but those affected think this should have been addressed after the employee’s salary increases. Now there is no money left. No mention of salary was made at the Tucson Unified School District board members meeting on Tuesday.

Raising the standards for high school graduates in Tucson is thought to only help them in their futures as private citizens, in college and in the work place. Last week the Board of Education took a vote that will require students entering the ninth grade to pass three math courses and three social studies courses which is more than is currently needed. In 2010 the requirement for freshmen will be a fourth year of math with a third year of science. The students just need more education and are not equipped properly to enter the working world. They need to understand how interest rates work on credit cards and mortgages and so much more. The Board of Education is also considering increasing the number of credits needed to graduate. This is just a proposal by the board in Tucson and still needs to be formalized.

The Border Patrol is being asked to reconsider plans to build a permanent checkpoint south of Green Valley on I-19. Area residents aren’t happy with these plans and hope to persuade federal officials to build the site closer to the border. The current thinking is that building it so far north of the border entry will bring more criminal activity which includes drug smuggling and illegal immigration to populated areas like Green Valley, Sahuarita, Tucson and Tubac. The businesses and residents also have concerns about car chases, shootings, theft and related crimes which are on the rise in some of these areas. Instead of using this northern site, the hope is to build it at the border using the drug-sniffing canines, additional inspectors including the refined radar system now being tested in the Tucson Sector along with small drones, unmanned aerial vehicles and so much more that has been proposed for this undesirable northern location.

It appears that not all is on track with Rio Nuevo and that the housing market is hurting it. Private developers are delayed on downtown projects set for redevelopment due to the decline in home sales. These projects, many of which were scheduled for 2007, won’t be completed until 2009 slowing Rio Nuevo’s progress. The three parking garages that were planned to be built linked to three residential properties may not be able to be built until 2009 as well. There are also some private projects already underway that are dealing with financial problems. Looks like we’ll still have to wait a while for it’s completion.