Huckelberry Asked: “Why Only One Side” Of Prop 463 Road Bond Debate

The always colorful Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry explained how the county "launders the money" on September 20, 2018 to the Green Valley Council.

It had become obvious to Green Valley residents that Pima County administrator Chuck Huckelberry and his crew made an appearance to sell the road bond:

Yes, Pima County residents wanted to know why they were only getting one side of the story. It is a good question. I can’t answer for Chuck, but I can give you the other side.

During election season we see a number of television and radio commercials telling us why we should or should not support a candidate for a given office. The candidates for higher offices such as US Senator and US Representative understandably receive a lot of attention during the weeks running up to election day. However, there are also a number of ballot propositions that have a direct influence on our state, county, and cities which we must understand to vote the correct way.

In 2015, the voters of Pima county were faced with over $800,000,000 in bond measures, and the voters correctly voted down those ballot measures. However, the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the County Administrators are now trying to feed us this incredible debt in two spoonfuls instead of one. There is already a plan to float another bond in a few years for another 430 million dollars – putting Pima county nearly a Billion dollars in debt.

Proposition 463 proposes to fix our county roads, and with 70% of our roads being in failed condition, the powers that be feel with a $430,000,000 price tag, more people might support it. Pima County is wrong and Proposition 463 will go down in defeat again – some people just don’t learn.

There are a number of arguments against Prop 463, but the Green Valley Council is endorsing the proposition. The Green Valley Council receives $75,000/year from the county – is it legal for them to support any proposition put forth by the county?

There is no part of the county’s 1.3 billion dollar annual budget to maintain our roads – we can maintain the roads cheaper than we can repair them – more than 70% of Pima county roads are in failed condition – it has taken consistent lack of concern for 20+ years for the roads to get to their current state.

The state provides a significant amount of money each year for the county’s road maintenance – $92,000,000 in the most recent year. Of that money $24 million is moved to the general fund, $19 million goes to pay interest in the current road bonds, and $40 million goes to pay the majority of the $43 million dollar annual Pima county transportation budget – hardly any money has gone to maintain our roads.

The road condition problem is not a problem with revenue, it is a spending problem, and is a problem with setting proper priorities. We didn’t need to spend money on:

• Building World View leasing it and to them for less than market value

• Buying a golf course and forgiving a $100,000 tax debt

• Giving $100,000 to American Airlines

• Buying a bowling alley for more than appraised value – then allowing the current owner to use the property for a year rent free and then pay to remove the bowling alleys although they must have been included in the appraised value

We only need an estimated $34,000,000/year to maintain our roads out of a 1.3 billion dollar budget with the State of Arizona providing $92,000,000 specifically for our roads. We can maintain our roads without raising taxes and going into debt.

They say your taxes won’t go up, but they will – they have to. The county is playing fast and loose with the math – nothing is free.. Vote NO on prop 463.

Visit StopProp463.com to learn more and to donate your money to this worthy effort.

About John Backer 28 Articles
John Backer is an expert in cyber-security with over 30 years experience in the field. A popular activist in southern Arizona, Mr. Backer is often heard on local radio.