Below is an email we received from Oro Valley resident Bill Garner.
But, before you read Bill's message, click here listen to the audio archive of Wednesday's Town Council Meeting in relation to the new water fees. Select the archive audio of the June 20 meeting. Then, select Public Hearing-Item 3,Ordinance No, (O) 07-32 from the jump menu. You can listen to a 38 minute clip of the meeting on this subject or simply use the "slide bar" to advance audio to listen to Art Segal, followed by Bill Garner, and further on, Mayor Loomis.
You can hear what was said. It's on the record.
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Dear Oro Valley Residents:
I recently had the pleasure to attend the Town Council meeting on the evening of June 20, 2007 to hear the latest giveaway by our Town Council in regards to a five tiered approach to the rates for water meters for new development. Although this was disturbing to say the least , I would like to point out an interesting item that came up as part of the discussion during the Public Hearing portion of this Resolution. Mr. Art Segal was speaking in regards to his opposition to this Resolution when he made the following comment (not verbatim) "Is somebody not going to buy a house if a builder adds another 5000 bucks to a five hundred thousand dollar house? We're not talking about a $20,000 dollar house going up $5,000. We're talking about a 1% increase for a majority of the new homes." I found Mr. Segal's comment as a way to characterize or summarize that there will be very little impact on the home buyer's decision to purchase due to a water meter rate increase. As the meeting progressed Mayor Paul Loomis saw fit exercise is mayoral duties and explain to all of us in attendance that Mr. Segal was incorrect in his comments about the cost of housing in Oro Valley. I quote the mayor's comments "No matter what Mr. Segal says, the average price of a house is not a half a million dollars. The average price of a house in Oro Valley is around two hundred twenty five thousand dollars. That is what they are selling for today".Wow! Does our Mayor live in the Town of Oro Valley? Of course he does, but once again our mayor has really shot from the hip on this one! After spending a total of 15 minutes on the World Wide Web I was able to obtain the correct average home price for the Town of Oro Valley. Here are the results of that search:http://www.city-data.com/city/Oro-Valley-Arizona.html 2005 Estimated Median Home Price of $259,100http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Oro_Valley-Arizona/ Dec 06 to Feb 07Estimated Median home Price of $340,000 http://www.orovalleyhomes4sale.com/ May 2007 Estimated Median home Price of $340,820Mayor Loomis was clearly off the mark by over $110,000 and should get his facts straight prior to commenting in a public meeting.In closing the point to be made with this analysis is the next time you hear one of our elected Town Officials make a statement, don't always believe what you hear!
Bill Garner
5 comments:
Thank You for getting the facts for us Bill.
I also thought that Mayor Loomis was way off with his average house price for OV.
From what I have read I knew the figure to be in the 300,000 range.
It is also upsetting to see that our town council for the most part discourages residents from speaking up at the public meetings by trying to take the attention away from the issue at hand and nit pick with figures that turn out to be wrong anyway.
I have never seen a member of the development community discouraged from speaking their opinion.
Some residents are also offended by Mayor Loomis who seems to be scolding the residents when they
dare to voice objection to anything to do with development or developers.
2008 can not be here soon enough!
Another thing to think about.
If the mayor is not up to date on
the cost of housing in his own backyard, then how the heck do these guys try to wheel and deal with sharks like developers, etc. Wow you want to get in the ring, you have to know how to box.
No wonder they give away the store.
Yikes this is scary
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bill,
Loomis was off the mark by far more than $110,000. The fact is, the average or median home price or home value has nothing to do with the water impact fees. The only price that matters is that of a NEW home. So, how much is that in Oro Valley?
According to the Tucson Association of Realtors MLS site, there are currently 39 homes on the market in Oro Valley that were built in 2007. So, let's use THAT to give us an idea of the cost of a new home in our fair town.
Here are the prices, from lowest to highest:
$253,990
$269,215
$301,365
$311,990
$315,890
$329,990
$333,200
$343,200
$346,900
$355,315
$378,397
$390,235
$399,000
$439,674
$550,000
$565,000
$629,900
$649,900
$674,900
$678,380
$679,900
$679,900
$699,900
$712,375
$750,000
$753,000
$789,900
$1,250,000
$1,250,000
$1,285,000
$1,700,000
$1,849,800
$2,200,000
$2,500,000
$2,595,000
$2,650,000
$4,200,000
$4,200,000
$4,300,000
So, the average price of a new home in Oro Valley appears to be $1,116,954, and the median price is $679,900. If the price of that home goes up $4,800 to pay for the new meter (impact) fees, that represents a 0.7% increase in the price.
Hi "OV Mom"---Thanks for the time, effort & research----not to mention the typing, to pass along this data.
If the mayor would have been smart enough to realize my comments in addressing the council were to point out what you noted: The impact fees would not be much of an impact on too many NEW home buyers.
We know the mayor is aware of our blog. We hope he finds the time to read it----so he may get a little education on the community he (supposedly) leads.
Art
The following comment came via email from long time OV resident Bill Berlat. It is being posted with his permission.
Mayor Loomis has not done anything right since he has been the mayor (small "m"), or at least, the few thnigs he may have done that have benefited the community have been far outshadowed by the harm and damage he has been responsible for. As with many government beaurocracies, local, state and federal, incompetence rises to the top.
How he got re elected is beyond me. The only thing I can opine is that those who have moved in of recent years have been too dumb to recognize the problems we faced. If that remark is too caustic for some, put me on your junk list. And those who have moved in of late, the not so Splendido gullibles, have helped to make our community little Chicago, or at least pretty damn close.
Pleased to be in Pinetop; every time I come down for a few days I shudder at what continues, and I only think of what could have been with a capable and responsible government.
Bill Berlat
Pinetop, Az
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