Anyone wanting, and can afford to, should submit an argument “for” or “against” the Naranja Park bond by 5 p.m. this Friday, July 21, 2017, according to Oro Valley officials.
Arguments will be included in the informational voter pamphlet that is prepared and mailed to each household with a registered voter not less than 35 days before the date of the election. The bond question will appear on the November 7, 2017 ballot.
At $250 per argument, the Town has made the cost of arguments nearly prohibitive for the average resident.
Oro Valley was founded in 1974 on the concept that residents would not have Town-related property taxes. Over the years, due to extravagant spending, that concept was set aside, and the latest bond request will be a secondary property tax.
According to the 2015 “State of the Town” address, Mayor Satish Hiremath claim he did a number of things “by design” to prevent a property tax, including increased development, the “Shop Oro Valley” campaign, and a focus on sports tourism.
To that end, the Mayor arranged for the purchase of golf courses from Humberto Lopez’s El Conquistador Hotel. Guess they didn’t work too well. That deal has since depleted the general fund and plunged the Town into a financial hole.
Yet, because sports tourism is Hiremath’s dream solution, the Town is ignoring the requests by residents for more picnic ramadas, playground equipment, and paved walking paths instead of the projects outlined in the current bond request.
The total estimated cost for the projects included in the bond request is $17 million. The annual principal and interest is $1.4 million annually for 20 years.
For a large segment of Oro Valley residents who are retired on a fixed income, a secondary property tax increase could be devastating.
Despite two previous failed bond requests to develop Naranja Park, and promises to proceed with a pay as you go plan, the Mayor and Council have claimed that there is a huge demand for additional fields. However, in the online survey petitions with over 10,000 participants, upon which the Mayor and Council rely in order to promote the bond request, only 164 signatures were from Oro Valley residents. Countless signatures come from people who identify themselves as residing out of the country.
Arguments must meet the following requirements in order to be accepted for publication:
● Argument shall not exceed 300 words in length.
●Argument shall contain a sworn statement of each person sponsoring it.
● Argument shall include the residence or post office address and telephone number of each person signing the argument.
● Argument shall be submitted to the Oro Valley Town Clerk in an electronic format, preferably Microsoft Word.
● Argument shall include a payment of $250 (as allowed by Arizona state law).
● As required by law, all information—including the $250 fee—must be received by the Oro Valley Town Clerk by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 21, 2017.
To read complete details on submitting an argument, click here.