Outspoken critic of the controversial Prop 104, Phoenix City Councilman, Sal DiCiccio, in an interview with the Legal Broadcast Network, said the choice before voters is between hiring more teachers and enriching developers along the light rail line. DiCiccio has called the $31 billion proposition a “special interest tax.”
This August, Pheonix residents will have the opportunity to vote on the massive measure, which has growing opposition.
Contrary to claims that it will improve the quality of life in the Phoenix area, DiCiccio says the light rail tax “will literally benefit those who benefit from the $31 billion. It’s meant to benefit the developers along the light rail line. The proposal itself is a $31 billion tax-and-spend proposal for the City,” said DiCiccio.
DiCiccio claims that the light rail will cost the taxpayers $161 million per mile to build and operate. “There’s a strong discussion going on right now, as to whether or not, this money should go into the educational system rather than trains,” said DiCiccio.
DiCiccio asked, “When you’re building a rail line at $161 million per mile, why isn’t that money going into education? Why isn’t that money going into the schools? What we found was that if you were to use that $31 billion, you could literally bring in over 200,000 new teachers to the City of Phoenix, if you didn’t use it for trains.”
DiCiccio also said that the same people who said that building the Sheraton was a good idea, are the same ones pushing for the light rail tax. According to DiCiccio, “Here’s what happened. That hotel cost the taxpayers $330 million, today it’s worth only worth $175 million, and it has lost – since it opened – $38 million of taxpayer money.” DiCiccio stated, “Remember the Sheraton was built with $330 million of hard-working taxpayers’ dollars, it’s now worth about $175 million.
In May, the Taken for a Ride – No on Prop 104 committee was formed in opposition to the sales tax (Transaction Privilege Tax) that will be put before voters on August 25, 2015. The sales tax, which was approved to go before voters by Mayor Greg Stanton and several city council members, is calculated to give Phoenix, Arizona one of the highest sales tax rates in the United States.
Explaining why he is chairing the “No” committee, United States Army Veteran Matthew Kenney said at the time the group announced its formation, “Phoenicians and small business owners will have to shoulder a 31.5 billion dollar tax burden and the mayor cut a deal with big business excluding purchases above $10,000 from the proposed new tax, where is my deal Mr. Mayor?”