Fred Hubbell (file photo)
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports tax records in Arizona show Democratic candidate for governor Fred Hubbell was fined $600 after his home in Scottsdale was improperly classified as his primary residence.
Hubbell on Sunday said the local officials in Arizona made the initial mistake. “They misclassified our house because of clerical errors down in Maricopa County,” Hubbell said during a campaign stop in Decorah. “We never asked for anything. We never wanted anything or expected anything. They did it for 25 percent of the homes in Arizona, they just automatically reclassified them. Fortunately, they figured it out and they corrected it for us and a lot of others.”
The local assessor in Arizona began updating property tax records for vacation homes that had been misclassified as a primary residence, eligible for a state tax credit. Hubbell has claimed a home in Des Moines as his primary residence and gets a homestead tax exemption on the property. The local assessor in Arizona told The Cedar Rapids Gazette Hubbell failed to respond to letters, asking him if the Scottsdale home was his primary residence. After several attempts to reach Hubbell by mail, he was assessed a $600 civil penalty and he paid the fine.
Pat Garrett, a spokesman for Republican Governor Kim Reynolds’ campaign, said the incident shows Hubbell talks about ending wasteful tax giveaways, but really only cares about his own pocketbook.
(By Darin Svenson, KDEC, Decorah)