A friend, and OV neighbor who prefers his name not be attached has sent us a thought provoking message that we believe deserves your attention. Hopefully, we will not offend any of our readers by not publishing the writer's name that is known to us. The name is not important. The message is.
Art
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"I consistently read various comments from the good residents of OV with regard to such issues as taxes, growth and the town’s future direction.
Please understand all three of the above mentioned issues share one common connection which is the town council in itself. Growth along with taxes would not be an issue at all if it were not for the actions of the past and present town council. For example:
- Dollars to fund the Naranja Park would be available for the most part if foresight was used and the council implemented a prudent impact fee on all new construction setting aside these funds to help fund the park knowing it was a part of forward town planning.
- Little need to “buy” new business in OV would be present if the same foresight was used affixing proper impact fees on new construction substantial enough that growth could efficiently pay for itself. The aforementioned new construction is the cause and effect which has resulted in the town’s negative forward financial position.
- With prudent impact fees growth would not only pay for itself but, would also moderate as a result of the higher cost of doing business (building of new construction). This growth moderation would have eased the over-acceleration of the associated overhead expenses the town is now experiencing.
- Town expenditures are not actually out of control. With the same prudent insight as mentioned above, expenses would not be an issue if a positive financial structure had been in place which, always begins with new construction permitting fees and associated impact fees. Starting out as a residential bedroom community, I cannot conclude as to where else the operating revenue was to come from.
5 comments:
I would certainly agree that Oro Valley has not acted in a prudent manner when it came to development. Impact fees were low and had no relation to reality.
I would submit ,also, that Oro Valley spending is out of control. Simply look a the way the budgets are created, the way items are prioritized, and the fact that the town has not 'stripped' costs out of its spending.
The following is from the initial writer of the posting.
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Thanks for the comment Zee Man. As a kind reply, if revenue is favorable above overhead, expenditures for the “nice to dos” is permissible and seldom scrutinized. At this point, since the aforementioned is not the case as a result of the unacceptable poor planning, spending becomes an issue…same as in business. The point is, all this is the “cause and effect” of the main topic. As in project management, all here that is lacking is the solution or, “action” toward resolve. Actually, this is one of the responses I was looking for in order to get residents to look for the “root” of the problem which is required; how did we get here and how do we avoid it in the future? Well done Zee Man.
I would wonder how many Town of Oro Valley budget sessions zee man has attended or how many times he has purchased a copy of the proposed budget to truly study it, or how many times has he stood before the Town Council at one of the budget study sessions and spoken in opposition to a particular budget or budget item. I think the answer to all of the above is a very small number and the answer to all may be the same number.... ZERO.
It is pretty obvious that both the zee man and the one who is too ashamed to divuldge his/her name, are not well informed on impact fees. You cannot sustain a community on impact fees. In many cases impact fee income can only be used for specific projects.
Projects like the Naranja Park, even on a small scale, could never be constructed with impact fees.
So once again I would suggest to both individuals that you learn what impact fees are all about before you make an attempt to write about them. And Zee Man maybe once in a while you should invest some time in attending the budget sessions and providing your 'valuable imput'.
Does anyone else see the irony in the comment from "Objective Thinker." who says, "one who is too ashamed to divuldge (sic) his/her name ---?"
(Not too important, but there's no "d" in "divulge.")
"The Thinker" chooses not to divulge his name, but rather use the misnomer, "OV Objective Thinker" in his comments.
I won't bother address the merits, or lack of merits of his comments. I'll only say, knowing the gentleman who requested his name not be used, had nothing whatsoever to do with being "ashamed."
As for the "Zee Man," his value to the community is helping with the blog,so our neighbors will have a better awareness as to why Oro Valley desperately needs new leadership.
Perhaps, "The Thinker" would like to start commenting without any pseudonym,unless,of course he is too ashamed.
Art Segal
The original writer asked that I offer this comment in response to "Objective Thinker."
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Dear Mr. Objective Thinker
I always find it amusing when a person can read but, cannot comprehend its content.
With 28 years corporate leadership holding positions as vice president, president and now owner of 2 companies while maintaining association with many prominent business owners in the area, one would think I have a little experience in the budgeting process.
The writing was to show example of how the lack of prudent foresight, planning and execution (cause and effect) will result in an unfavorable outcome forward and how to avoid financial shortfalls in the future; a standard business model used to evaluate cause, effect and solution (forward action).
Allow me to recap the writing in simple terms for you;
Years previous, during the large and fast construction of new homes in OV understanding there was a lack of a property tax along with inefficient sales tax capable of sustaining a favorable financial position forward, the time was then to act implementing impact fees capable of sustaining said growth forward (growth paying for itself).
The aforementioned increased impact fees would have eased growth by way of increased cost of doing business at the home developer’s level which would have in-turn moderated the town’s over-accelerated overhead expenses now experienced while allowing retail sales growth to expand at a natural pace. I’m hoping you do not operate a business in which margin is unfavorable to growth and its associated expense just hoping for better things to come…maybe you do based upon your response.
With the said unfavorable financial forward picture, the town must now play host to retail sales revenue at any cost. The forward financial picture is not unpredictable with proper leadership and was overlooked as an issue several years ago.
As for a fee funding the park, the term “for the most part” was used. In any case, I think one can safely assume if the town had shown foresight by having a contributing portion set aside by way of park impact fees on new home construction starting years ago, OV residents along with corporate leaders would be a little more inclined to help fund the balance. In lieu of this, the residents get the full impact pushed upon them at once. Face it, this park was in the town’s forward planning for some time, at one stage or another while no action was taken to help fund its expense. Was it the ghost park?
By the way, to this point the Zee Man was the only comprehensive response to date. In addition, I don’t think attending budget meetings makes one the expert as clearly demonstrated. As for my name, people associated with the blog clearly know who I am as I clearly know who you are. I think the only one here to be ashamed are you; one who takes pleasure in trying to be the all wise one by way of rude ridicule at the personal level is never wise at all.
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