Anyone who has followed the politics of Pima County spending for the last several years has to be scratching their head and wondering where they come up with this stuff. You will no doubt recall the repeated claims made by County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry that the State has swept all of our Highway User Revenue Funds (gas tax money intended for repair and rejuvenation of our county roadways), and consequently we don’t have the money needed to repair them. More than 65 percent of Pima County Roads in District 1 are rated as failing or failed.
The truth is that the County has actually received 93 percent of the funds, but spent the money not on roads repair and rejuvenation, but other projects and internal costs. There has been money to buy land for open space, grow the County administrative staff and build bike paths.
Just a few months ago we heard from County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry about the $22 Million dog pound bond package. “It’s the cost of a latte.” to adopt a no-kill shelter policy and build a new facility we were told. Never mind the warnings from the Bond Advisory Committee, with its fiduciary responsibility to look out for the best interests of the tax payers. Their warnings that the operations and maintenance of the facility would dwarf the actual building project were ignored.
Now we hear of an $800 Million bond package to fix all that should have been fixed (pay-as-you-go) while the funds that should have gone to primary responsibilities, were being spent on other “priorities”. Of course there will be the spread of a little money to every other political subdivision in order to build support for yet another bond scheme that we don’t need and can’t afford.
I support Marana Mayor Ed Honea and the responsible position he is taking to say, “no, no, hell no” to spending that is a ridiculous excess, and outrageous spending spree. Mayor Honea’s, “will we talk it? Sure, do we need it? No,” remark in the NW Explorer [6 May, 2015] points to the crux of the matter, he doesn’t believe it’s needed and it isn’t wanted.
Fiscal restraint seems to be a hard to find trait throughout Pima County. Buying the El Conquistador golf course, even when the overwhelming evidence is that golf course usage has declined nationally by over 18 percent (and falling), is not an advisable business move. And, when the taxpayers overwhelmingly voted down the massively expensive Naranja Park bond a few years ago, they thought they had heard the end of it. Well, it seems that the Oro Valley Town Council is going to do what they damn well please; forget the consent of the governed.
The State budget held the line in a lot of areas so more money could be spent on education, health care, and public safety. Governor Ducey said, “I’ll shrink government.” Maybe it’s time for Pima County and the other political subdivisions to consider following suit. It isn’t the State’s job to bail out those political subdivisions that can’t control their own budgets and spending.
Are the spend-thrift leaders [both elected and appointed] out of touch with reality? I wonder so, especially when we consider that Pima County is the 6th poorest county in America. Just like “you don’t borrow money on your American Express Card to make a house payment”, you don’t go into debt further when you are already dirt poor.
Pima County leadership is locked in a battle with itself, much as any addict. When the State stepped up a number of years ago and said that it would backfill shortages created by declining property values, the first price tag was about $100,000 to the State (emphasis on Tax Payers of the State). The County budget was, by-and-large under control. But when someone at the County figured out that by shifting costs to a reimbursable part of the budget – the cost of local largesse was shifted to the State budget. That payment grew to $23 Million, not because of anything done on the State budget level, but poor decision making at the County level.
Now, when the State resets expectations [and the budget] to say it will no longer reimburse any more than $1 Million, we hear foul called out as “your taking the County’s money to balance the budget.” It never was the County’s money, but the County sure saw to it that it exploited the reimbursement formula loophole. Now the State is simply not giving what it shouldn’t have given in the first place.
Pima County faces an addiction problem. The best way to treat an addict is to remove them from the environment that empowers the addiction. It is time for a change in Pima County government, a change that gets back to basic responsibilities and priorities. Those basic responsibilities and priorities are grounded in dependable, cost-effective emergency services, well-kept infrastructure, and stable tax rates that attract job creators. Discipline breads confidence.