By Todd Elwood
I’m voting no on the property tax question which, to anyone who’s ever read my columns, is as surprising finding confused drivers on Avenue of the Fountains.
By this point, I gather most of you have made up your minds on the issue, so I won’t be offering a point-by-point rebuttal of the “information” spilling out of Town Hall.
Instead, I offer two reasons I’m voting no. The first is philosophical. The second, more practical.
Philosophy
Some people are comparing a property tax to a little more than a cheap cup of diner coffee per day (65 cents, give or take).
Despite how cheap this proposed tax is, I’m sticking to my guns and saying no.
Any new tax should be a last resort. That’s especially true when even some proponents of the question say it’s not needed today.
I’ll sound like my late Grandpa Elwood, but the day will come when citizens demand a stop to it; a day when we scream, “Enough is enough!”
In Washington, Congress is preparing to let the Death Tax rise from the dead in a few years.
In Arizona, Governor Janet Napolitano is pushing a one-cent sales tax increase.
In Fountain Hills, we fork over an extra $2.60 per $100 spent above the state sales tax.
Add to that taxes already assessed on property, money taken out of your income, capital gains taxes, government fees for licenses and permits, utilities and user fees.
If you want to compare the proposed property tax to a cheap cup of diner coffee, that’s fine.
Let’s play pretend, then. Say you make $100,000 per year with salary, benefits and interest on investments.
After you subtract all of the taxes you already pay, you’re lucky to have $60,000 left. Very lucky.
At 65 cents for that cup of joe, you’re already buying 169 cups of coffee per day.
I hope you’re thirsty.
Sure you want another?
Practical
Proponents are fond of comparing Fountain Hills with our neighbors in Mesa.
In my book, this is worse than comparing apples to oranges. This is along the lines of comparing apples to, I dunno, bronze sculptures.
Reason being, Mesa’s monumental mismanagement of funds is mostly to blame for their woes. Luckily, we’re nowhere near Mesa in terms of trouble, and I dare say we aren’t following that city down the financial road, either.
The fact neither of us has a property tax is coincidental only.
I wanted to compare our apples to actual fruit more our size, so I looked into Apache Junction’s budget.
I’ll be completely upfront and admit this isn’t an accurate comparison, either. Every city has its own challenges and needs.
However, AJ’s population is roughly 36,000 (about 12,000 more than us), and its annual budget is $55 million (about $24 million more than ours).
Other factors skew AJ’s numbers when compared to Fountain Hills’, too, such as that city having its own police force.
When I was comparing Apache Junction’s city employees, however, one fact leapt off the page.
Apache Junction has an Economic Development Department.
With a budget of $134,000 (two full-timers), Apache Junction’s Economic Development Department achieved an impressive amount in fiscal year 2006-07 (facts from the city’s 2007-08 budget document).
It worked on the downtown development agreement; rezoned the downtown to encourage redevelopment and infill opportunities; completed the AJ Community Profile, making the document available to developers; and even provided a bus tour of the city and its property for potential business owners and developers.
In that same document, city leaders discussed the same economic slowdown that has Fountain Hills officials practically begging us to pass a property tax.
Despite acknowledging the downturn in the economy, guess what Apache Junction did.
The city added a third full-time economic specialist to the department. It boosted its economic development department budget from $134,000 to $358,000.
The department listed its newest goals: develop an AGGRESSIVE business recruitment plan; refine tools to foster commercial development; continue working on a solid strategy for downtown.
Essentially, Apache Junction is saying it’s ready for the challenge. Or, at least they’re preparing for the fight.
While in Fountain Hills, I see the property tax as a defeatist attitude.
I’m not ready to give up. Have we considered establishing our own department of economic development? We might not have the square footage available to build that Apache Junction has, but a ton of revenue can be generated in small offices. That’s what the papers say, anyway.
So, I’m voting no because I hope it forces our town into the fight, too. I’m voting no because I’m optimistic we can thrive through ingenuity, and not by taxing ourselves.
Finally, I’m voting no because, frankly, I can’t stand to drink another drop of this lousy coffee.
To comment on this column, click over to TheElwoodFiles.com online. Or e-mail Todd@Take5AZ.com.