It’s easy to think that when officials lower the City of Tucson’s property tax rate this year, you’ll see lower annual tax bills.

But the increase in property valuations for this coming year should more than be enough to offset any savings.

On June 23 the City Council approved lowering the combined property tax rate for 2010 by about two cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 93 cents.

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“The primary (tax) is based on valuations that we receive from the county so we do look at it as soon as we get valuations and there’s only a certain limit that we can go up to,” said Tucson Budget Administrator Joyce Garland. “The secondary is based on our debt service payment on our general obligation bonds, so that can also fluctuate so we do try to keep it pretty stable.”

To be precise, the city’s primary property tax rate for 2010 is $0.3144 per $100 of assessed valuation, about $0.0087 less than last year. The secondary rate dropped $0.017 to 62 cents.

The reason for the tax reduction is the city can only take a certain amount in primary property taxes, in this case, about $11.4 million. Otherwise, the county would reduce the limit that feeds the city’s general fund. The secondary property tax is not subject to a maximum amount and is instead used for the payment of debt, at the proposed new rates, this is expected to raise $24.9 million.

The city is but one entity charging a property tax. The bills, which will be mailed out in September, will also include property taxes for Pima County’s regional transportation plan and library, school districts, Central Arizona Project and any improvement districts.

Property tax rates don’t become final until late August.

Contact reporter Nicholas Smith at nsmith@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4238.