A Thought Provoking Message From An Oro Valley Neighbor

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.

A well financed and progressive town excluding property taxes requires proper foresight, planning and execution. As not a single town council member will admit responsibility for this mess, I will leave this open-ended looking for responses from OV residents on how to resolve this predicament. Resolve is really pretty easy but, I would like to see other views.

Goldwater Institute Sues the City of Phoenix

Following is an article from Townhall.com that discusses the Goldwater Institute action against the mayor of the city of Phoenix. Additionally, see the next posting of our neighbor Zev Cywan's thoughts on this lawsuit.
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Goldwater Institute Sues the City of Phoenix
By Lindsay Boyd
Coalitions Manager and Associate Editor
Townhall.com
Friday, August 10, 2007

What do you get when you put the owners of a small real-estate company, wine and cheese café, ice cream shop, Sign-a-Rama, Music Together and Hava Java in the same room? In Phoenix, Arizona, you’ve got a court case.

In July, 2007, the City of Phoenix signed a contract with the Klutznick Company to provide a $97.4 million subsidy for their CityNorth project through sales taxes. However, Klutznick and the city of Phoenix apparently overlooked- or simply ignored- the constitutional prohibition on corporate welfare within Arizona. On August 8th, the Goldwater Institute filed suit against Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon for violation of this constitutionally protected right for free-market competition.

The Goldwater Institute will represent Meyer Turken, owner of Turken Industrial Properties; Kenneth Cheuvront, owner of Cheuvront Wine and Cheese Café and Cheuvront Construction; Zul Gilliani, who owns an ice cream shop; James Iannuzo, owner of Sign-a-Rama; Kathy Rowe, owner of Music Together; and Justin Shafer, owner of Hava Java. Together, these entrepreneurs will work with the Goldwater Institute to assert their rights to compete in a capitalistic marketplace, as insured by Arizona state law.

The stakes include the elimination of corporate welfare in Arizona, equitable business environment that does not favor the politically connected over small business owners, greater economic efficiency, and a realignment of city priorities.

As the case moves forward, the Goldwater Institute's Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, directed by Clint Bolick, will argue that the CityNorth subsidy violates three clauses within the Arizona constitution.

Stay tuned for updates in this monumental case, as citizens of Phoenix go to battle with the government to protect their economic freedoms

Zev Cywan Follows Up On Goldwater Institute Lawsuit

Our friend & neighbor, Zev Cywan has been following the issue of Economic Development Agreements, and the recent action filed by the Goldwater Institute.
See our posting on Aug 8 titled, "Are You Listening Mayor Loomis?"

Following are Zev's comments.

Watch out Oro Valley!
A lawsuit aimed at RESTORING the Arizona
constitutional ban on subsidies to special interest entities by the use of
municipal tax revenues has been filed On August 8, 2007 (Turken vs.
Gordon/City of Phoenix) in the City of Phoenix (Maricopa County Superior
Court): the legal representation for the plaintiffs is being provided by the
Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation; the
lead attorney for same, Clint Bolick, is a nationally acclaimed jurist.

As I understand it, because the governing laws are already in the AZ
Constitution, if the plaintiff(s) do,in fact, prevail, then prior agreements
by municipalities could have the potential of being voided or ''forced to be
equalized," even though said contracts have been already executed (the case
in Phoenix does involve an already signed contract.) Turken is the owner of
a smaller real estate development company who along with five other small
businesses are the plaintiffs; Gordon is the Mayor of Phoenix.

Note: The above information has been compiled through news releases
published on the Internet as well as through private conversations between
myself and the above named Litigation Center. This is a condensed personal
understanding of the matter and in no way do I hold myself to be any legal authority
whatsoever.

Zev Cywan

You Say "No" To An Oro Valley Property Tax

Your comments are in from last week's question of the week: "Do you support a property tax if it was required to fund the Naranja Park?" Not one lick of support from our bloggers. Click here to read selected comments.