By Oro Valley Town Councilman Brenden Burns
Oro Valley is on the path to financial disaster and the recalled incumbents couldn’t care less. Why would they? It’s your money, not theirs. They’re not being honest about the millions of dollars in deficit that are going to be incurred over the next few years. The Community Center lost over $1M in the first three months (not counting capital). What is cause for panic is that this enormous loss is 61.5% greater than projected. The Town approved the 2015/16 budget on June 3rd. If we cannot accurately forecast our finances 30 to 90 days into the future, then we are in serious trouble.
If any private business suffered losses nearly 62% greater than projected, heads would roll. According to the recalled incumbents, everything is fine.
The Budget provides for $1.11M in capital improvements for 2015/16. We suffered a $395,899 loss in July alone. Budget projections have the Community Center suffering losses nearly 1 million dollars by the end of the third month (the actual losses will be greater as golf significantly underperformed in August and September). We collect $2M from the sales tax. We are ALREADY in deficit spending (including capital). Every lost dollar over the next 9 months of operation will have to come from savings or a new tax.
What is lost in this debate is that this Council raised the sales tax. Sadly, while this tax could have been used for future services, it won’t even stop the hemorrhaging losses of the Community Center and Golf.
The Community Center’s main assets are fitness and golf – amenities already available in abundance in OV. What the purchase did accomplish was to ensure that the Town cannot provide vitally needed services in the future. Two examples are Naranja Park and the Aquatic Center. The Aquatic Center’s plans include a lazy river, adventure crossing structure, and a zero depth pool. The total cost to add these amenities is just over $1 million – or the same amount lost in a mere three months.
In Naranja, rough estimates put the installation of a multipurpose field at about $250,000 and 4 baseball fields at $800,000. These fields would allow our residents to stay in town for practices and games instead of driving throughout Tucson. These fields would serve thousands of athletes and families unlike the Community Center that only has 263 youth members.
Raising the sales tax to pay for the Community Center was unconscionable and particularly hard on some struggling young families. The sales tax will cost every citizen $48.78 per year ($2M divided by 41,000 residents). For a family of 5 it’s $243.90 per year.
This is the second time the recalled incumbents have raised YOUR taxes. In 2010, they doubled the utility tax. A family of 5 pays $426.83 per year for both taxes. This significantly affects anyone on a fixed income. Approximately 25% of students in OV schools qualify for free or reduced lunches. If you are struggling to feed your family, $243.90 extra per year is substantial. Kids should not have to go hungry so we can subsidized golf.
Raising the sales tax harms business. Economics show that when a sales tax is increased, consumer spending decreases. As a result, our businesses will have fewer customers and sell less goods. The $2 million in added sales tax comes directly out of your wallet. As a result, we have $2M less to spend to support our businesses. Imagine what 100 Oro Valley businesses could do with $20,000 extra in their bank account.
It is time we face reality, I just pray it occurs before it is too late.