Art
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WE’RE ABOUT TO BE TAXED AND TAXED AND TAXED AGAIN
The incumbents and the aspirants to the Oro Valley Town Council came down south of the Canyon del Oro wash Monday night, to explain to those of us in the new southern precincts how the cow ate the cabbage - at a Council Candidates forum sponsored by Suffolk Hills Property Owners Association.
Hopefully, the scales fell from many eyes.
If Dankwerth, Gillaspie and Parish are all returned to rule us, this is what we can expect: One new tax on top of another from an inventive administration dedicated to exploding expansion while facing a downtrend in new home construction.
Next month, a brand-new Storm Water fee imposed by Oro Valley Water will begin to appear every quarter in our mailboxes. Never mind that many of us are customers of Tucson Water Department and also pay a sewer fee on the same bill that is connected to our water useage to Pima County Wastewater. Council Member Gillaspie had difficulty recalling the new tax and Council Member Dankwerth pled total ignorance. This strains credibility.
Though a final decision has been put off on the cost of the long sought-for Naranja Park on the far north side due to the fact that getting back in those Council Seats must take first priority at this time, the various elements will be “phased in.” This is like getting one tooth pulled every time you return to see the dentist’s hygienist. It does not obscure the fact that a new word has entered the lexicon of our leaders. Naranja Park will be paid for by a “Secondary” Property Tax. – which over a 25-30 year period, will cost more than the onerous “Primary” Property Tax, for it will be computed by the Pima County Tax Assessor at the FULL VALUE of our properties – and not the discounted rate now being applied. The move some clever strategist has devised is to permit us to decide how BIG the yearly property tax is to be to retire $40-million, $80-million or even $150-million in bonds - not whether there is to be an Oro Valley Property Tax or not.
The fix is still in for Golder Ranch Fire District. The incumbents turned aside the need to permit La Canada Fire District to solicit us for annexation and while contacting for the facilities and firefighters of Rural Metro Corporation give us a rate about half of what Golder Ranch FD is already socking us with. Dankwerth, Gillaspie and Parish thoroughly trashed the idea…and Rural Metro’s Firefighters as well.
Our only hope is to get the only two people dedicated to fiscal responsibility and preservation of the prettiest town in the world on the Oro Valley Town Council
PLEASE, vote only for Bill Garner and Salette Latas when the ballot comes in the mail early next month.
3 comments:
So if this action proposed by the current council stands, we the voters won't be deciding if we want to fund this park with OUR tax money?
The council wants to give us a choice on how much we want to be taxed?
Am I understanding this correctly?,
If this is the way the funding for the park is to be decided, I think it is under-handed, not ethical and irresponsible.
We really need some new council people to bring these questions up and stop the madness
While I agree with the comments regarding the Naranja Town Park and the secondary property tax, I disagree that Gillaspie and Dankwerth were "unaware" of the Storm Water tax. What they both stated was that they didn't understand the question (the way it was worded) and that made it difficult to impossible for them to answer it.
I completely agreed with this. I didn't understand the question either, even after it was repeated. I thought the question was poorly worded (too long and convoluted) which made it so ambiguous that no one knew what was really being asked.
Even the candidates that tried to answer the question had commented that they weren't exactly sure what they were being asked.
Ms. Coyote...
I am not sure what you are asking.
Cowgirl.....Kudo's to you.
The questions at this forum were not only convoluted, long, political statements followed by opinion and the followed by a question but for the most part stupid.
I point out the statement (corrected by Parish) that Rural Metro and Golder Ranch merged. The fact is that Rural Metro made a business decision to remove itself from the fire fighting business. Were we as citizens of Oro Valley not to seek a remedy???
The entire night was a farce and should be considered by the residents of Suffolk Hills as an embarrasment.
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