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Pima County may call off a planned 2008 bond election amid concerns over voter confidence in local government and taxpayer outrage at rising property values.

Top county officials are questioning whether the county should postpone the bond election until 2009 or later, even as the county's Bond Advisory Committee prepares to sort through nearly $2 billion in recommended projects.

The recommendations are the result of nearly a year of meetings by various subcommittees, which pared down a $3.5 billion bond "wish list" prepared by county departments, other jurisdictions and community groups.

The Bond Advisory Committee, the citizen group overseeing the county's bond program, will meet Friday to begin the process of slashing the list even further, to around $1 billion.

But in a memo to the committee, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry laid out several concerns about going to the voters in 2008.

Among them:

● If the slowdown in the housing market continues, as predicted, Pima County will see an end to the rapid rise in assessed values that allowed it to raise more revenue while lowering tax rates.

● The county has agreed not to increase the portion of taxes used to pay off bonds above its current 68.5 cents per $100 assessed value. Because growth is expected to level off, that means the county cannot support more than $600 million to $700 million in new bonds, which is short of what county officials were hoping for. That total doesn't include sewer revenue bonds, which aren't paid back through property taxes.

There also could be efforts in the Legislature or ballot initiatives to limit secondary taxes, like the debt-service tax.

● Voters will receive their 2008 tax bills, based on the increased values voters received earlier this year, just two months before the 2008 election. That may not put them in the mood to approve a large bond package.

● A 2008 bond package would share space on a lengthy ballot with state and federal office-seekers and initiatives.

● Recent intergovernment feuding may decrease voter confidence in government.

Huckelberry raised some concerns at an earlier committee meeting, but the discussion ended after Huckelberry told the committee the county would have enough bonding capacity to support the debt.

Huckelberry said he hoped the memo would stimulate a broader discussion, and he deliberately did not make a formal recommendation.

"I would be very cautious (about going in 2008), but that's why we have the Bond Advisory Committee," he said. "We're relying on them to give us the litmus test of what people really think."

Bond Advisory Committee Chairman Larry Hecker said he has a lot of concerns about selling a bond package in 2008, but he also believes there are a lot of pressing community needs.

"I believe we need to take a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "We will continue to assess and prioritize potential bond projects but without any preconceived notions of whether or when there will be a bond election."

Carolyn Campbell, the committee's vice chair, said she thought putting together a good bond package was more important than the timing of the election.

"We need a bond package that will pass, whether that's in 2008 or 2009," she said.

Before the committee makes a decision, she wants the county to hold open houses around the community. County officials did that when the bond "wish list" was released last year, but many projects have been cut or added since then. Also, Campbell said members of the Bond Advisory Committee should attend those meetings to get a better sense of public sentiment.

"The people that come to us making the case for projects really want this bond election," she said. "We don't hear from the people that aren't going for it."

The chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Richard Elias, also said he needs to see a certain level of enthusiasm and support from the public before deciding whether to go forward.

"I think it's important to hear from the community that they really want us to do this and the projects are worth going down this road," he said.

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