Recently I debated my fellow Republican colleague, Supervisor Ally Miller, on the Nov. 3 Pima County bond proposal. I support it, she does not.
We are entitled to our own opinions. What we aren’t entitled to is our own facts. Much of what Miller said during our debate is demonstrably misleading and even false.
Pima County does have a higher property tax rate than other counties, but the rest of the story needs telling. Pima County is also the only county in Arizona that has no sales tax because the voters turned it down four times. For 20 years, I denied the Democrat majority on the board a unanimous vote to override them.
I dislike a local sales tax for three reasons. It’s regressive, it’s not tax-deductible on state and federal returns, and it’s deceptively painless. Ronald Reagan said “taxes should hurt.”
I prefer long-term bonding based on the property tax to meet many local needs. It makes expenditures more transparent, new residents benefiting from it will help pay for them, and most importantly, it requires a vote from the public for specific items. Had we used a sales tax as other counties and as the chairman of the Vote No on Pima Bonds committee supports, we wouldn’t be having this debate. Politicians, not you, would be deciding where money would be spent.
Miller and others claim Pima County’s debt is a reason to vote against more bonds. They falsely compare Pima to other counties like Maricopa. It shifts around expenses and debt by creating “special districts” to cover its county hospital and jail with separate taxing and bonding powers. Also, 95 percent of Maricopa County residents live in incorporated areas, while only 64 percent of Pima County residents do. Maricopa simply moves costs and taxes to other jurisdictions. Its residents just pay for them under a different label. In almost every case, their debt and taxes are higher than ours.
Maricopa County voters just passed almost a billion dollars in bonded indebtedness for the countywide hospital district. It is worth mentioning that this is close to Pima County’s total debt amount.
As a small alternative to bonding, Miller proposes canceling the lease agreement with Banner-University Medical Center. She ignores that the $12.5 million annual payment to the University of Arizona satisfies Pima County’s constitutional obligation to maintain a county hospital and moved more than 900 employees off the county payroll and pension fund. That’s a much better deal than Maricopa County folks got. Does Miller wish to move those 900 employees back?
Miller also shows hostility to nonprofit groups. She even bragged in a recent public presentation to stop the “looting” being done by them. How sad. Part of American exceptionalism is the role our private sector plays in taking up functions other nations leave to government. From the docent at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum to the volunteer at the Community Food Bank, our nonprofits help reduce our costs. Supporting and expanding them saves us much more than they cost, and insulting them is out of line.
The total of all seven bond proposals is $816 million spread over 10 years in a growing county with more than a million people. The actual cost for the average homeowner, including interest, is about $17 a year in added taxes.
Please review them and read the ballot arguments in the publicity pamphlet. Most important, remember that this system allows you that choice.
