By Paul Frommelt
Author’s note: The following is part of a modified excerpt from The Payson News, Issue 11, dated April 7th, 2020. [12] It has been modified a bit as some things have changed. Some lines have been deleted, some added. But considering the fact that I was the author of the original article three years ago, I felt it appropriate for me to take a bit of creative license. But it’s hard to believe, that the issues of the town’s wasteful spending habits, lack of fiscal restraint, and the council’s focus on tax increases, are STILL SO RELEVANT today! ….
These days, we all find ourselves living in troubling times. Families are being forced to curtail their activities [due to the tremendous rise in the cost of living.] We are all making sacrifices that were unanticipated just a few short [years] ago.
That is why it is even more disturbing to hear talk of the town having discussions on yet another increase in our sales tax rate! [They are even discussing increases in excise and property taxes, and maybe going into deeper debt with bonds!] Our [current] leadership [finds] it much easier to just raise taxes without the consent of the voters, rather than make the harder choices they were elected to do. Our current administration, [should] at least offer us the option to vote on taking more money from our already stretched family budgets.
My point here is this. Our town already has one of the highest sales tax rates in the state. For its population of roughly 16,000, we have one of the largest town budgets around. We have per capita, one of the largest police departments for our size, with a support staff within; equal to or surpassing the number of officers in the field. Over the past few decades, our town councils have spent our dollars as though we were a population of 100,000, and not 16,000. We continue the ‘revolving door’, of rehiring staff, immediately upon retirement. Can’t the town find qualified replacements! We have a history of paying the upper echelon of our town staff wages that rival, and often surpass the governor of our state!
An end to this behavior is WAY past due. It is time to take a look at the things we are doing, that are stunting real economic growth in this community. It is time to stop the grandiose dreams (schemes?) of massive projects that we cannot afford, designed to benefit the few; and view it from the taxpayers’ perspectives. It is time to look at what other communities have done to live within their means. Some possibilities aren’t even discussed, as the elephant in the room is too large. But think about just one idea for a moment.
The single largest expenditure for our town is law enforcement. We all want safe streets. We all want the rule of law. But is it not possible to contract out with the Gila County Sheriff’s Office for our needs? We could combine forces, and save so much overheard, trim the fat, and still maintain our level of protection. Other communities do it. Fountain Hills, slightly larger than us at a population of 25,000, contracts with Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for their protection. Even communities much larger, such as Chino Hills, California, with a population over 80,000, does not carry the burden of their very own police force, but contracts out with San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office for their law enforcement needs. I’m not suggesting this as the only way to curb the budget, but it is certainly one alternative never seriously ever given consideration.
Think out of the box. It’s certainly better than the current habit of rehiring retired employees so they can garner multiple paychecks, while going after the taxpayers for more of theirs! There has got to be a better way than the knee jerk reaction of Tax, Tax, Tax, every time the town sees lean times ahead. If an increase in the total sales tax is indeed proposed, I have a compromise. Why not remove the sales tax on groceries? Eliminate taxation on non processed foods we all need to survive. It’s at least a compromise. I believe our town has lost its heart and its way, over the past few decades. The rift between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in our community is growing. Granted, the current crisis is not the doing of [some of] our current council. But that is no excuse to go back to the tax and spend ways of the past. It is past time to view the town from the perspective of the [middle class] working family. These topics regarding how the town spends OUR money, need to be discussed on the streets, and not in the country clubs. The town council needs to put themselves in our shoes. When things get tough, we taxpayers haven’t the luxury of just giving ourselves a raise, using other peoples’ money. We have to cut our family budgets, and postpone things we can only dream of. We must then take action to prevent ourselves from getting back in the same dilemma. We cut our family budgets.
The town needs to reevaluate its behavior also. There needs to be a fundamental change in the way our town does business with other peoples’ money. They need to change their attitudes regarding taxation, regardless of the size of the increase.
Regarding the proposed increase, one town staffer was overheard saying something to the effect “they won’t even notice it.”
Believe me, we are noticing it! ★ ★ ★ ★
