By Bob Littlefield
In the 20+ years I have been involved in Scottsdale politics I have seen many outrages come out of City Hall. But the recent political maneuverings by the City Council majority to put a deceptive sales tax hike on the November ballot may have been the most shocking of all.
Imagine if you were about to make the last payment on your home mortgage and your mortgage company informed you they were extending your mortgage by 30 years! But not to worry, they offer to lower your monthly payment by 25% to gaslight you into believing your mortgage is being reduced.
Of course, you would be outraged at this attempt to grossly increase the amount you would pay on your mortgage. And you certainly wouldn’t be fooled by the small decrease in your monthly mortgage payment into thinking you would somehow be paying less for your mortgage!
And yet, this is exactly what the City Council majority was trying to get you to believe when on April 2nd they voted 5-2 (Councilmembers Littlefield and Graham opposed) to place a new sales tax, Prop 490, on the November ballot. Contrary to the claims of the proponents, this would be a tax hike, and a big one at that. While the proposed 0.15% sales tax is a lower rate than the current 0.20% sales tax it is higher than the 0% Scottsdale citizens would pay if the current tax were allowed to expire next year. Bottom line, Scottsdale citizens will pay more – as much as $1.5B more – in sales taxes if this proposal passes.
Another problem with this proposal is it lacks transparency. The sales taxes used to purchase land for the Preserve were tightly locked down to ensure future City Councils could not divert those revenues to other uses. Prop 490, the new sales tax, is written so that a vote of only five Councilmembers can change where these monies are spent, for uses citizens may not have intended or would not approve. That makes this new sales tax a staff and Council majority slush fund.
This controversy led to a lawsuit where the Arizona Court of Appeals determined the City’s original ballot language was misleading, citing the City for failing to “disclose the proposition’s principal provision – that it creates a new tax…with a new purpose.” The Court’s finding was clear: this new tax has nothing whatsoever to do with the expiring tax.
The city hastily created new language which, while slightly improved, is still worded to mislead you to believe the new 0.15% tax is somehow related to the expiring 0.20% tax. And the new language still allows a vote of only five Councilmembers to change where these monies are spent, for uses citizens may not have intended or would not approve. That is the language that will be on the ballot in November.
Prop 490 promises police, fire and management to the Preserve. However, the City Treasurer has said publicly that Prop 207 (marijuana) currently funds the police and fire in the Preserve and that $1M from the General Fund goes to Preserve maintenance. She said that Prop 490, if passed, would fund these, which will “free up” the Prop 207 money and general fund money “for other uses.” Translation: Prop 490 will “free up” the Prop 207 money and general fund money for a staff and Council majority slush fund!
Bottom line, Prop 490 is a scam. So please join Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield, Councilman Barry Graham and me in voting NO on Prop 490, the new sales tax, on the November ballot. And please pass this info on to your friends and neighbors who are Scottsdale voters.
Bob Littlefield is a former Scottsdale City Councilman. Reach him at bob@boblittlefield.com