A Boondoggle Tax Hike Brewing In Scottsdale

In 1995 and 2004, Scottsdale citizens voted for an increase in our sales tax to acquire over 30,000 acres in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. The preserve is a jewel of Scottsdale, and the acquisition is complete. The tax is set to expire in 2025. Mission accomplished, right?

Not so fast.

As Ronald Reagan famously said, “There’s nothing more permanent than a temporary government program.”

Just recently, the Scottsdale City Council voted for a new tax. Billed as a “Replacement of the current tax and a reduction in cost”, it’s a billion-dollar shell game that comes directly out of your pocketbook. Their own big government tax force recommended extending the 0.20% tax set to expire in 2025, and replacing it with a brand new, 30-year, .15% tax. They are billing this as a “replacement and reduction” of the sales tax.

What a boondoggle. Rather than letting the tax expire as it should, they are supporting a new billion-dollar tax and expecting you to believe it is a tax cut. Lies.

Billed as a continuation in protecting the Preserve, only 18% of the new, billion-dollar tax is going to the preserve, itself. The rest goes to a citywide slush fund, with empty promises and hot air about how that money will end up helping parks. Even the Scottsdale Progress called the tax “a bit too vague and generally far-reaching” to gain unanimous support from the Council.

Everyone agrees that Scottsdale deserves the best-kept parks in the State. Let’s do so with a fiscally accountable eye toward being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This massive tax and spending measure is exactly the type of tired, cynical politics of which voters are sick to death.

Change and common sense need to come to Scottsdale. Voters will have the opportunity to bring just that this election season.

Adam Kwasman is a former AZ Legislator, an attorney, and a candidate for the Scottsdale City Council