On Tuesday, in a 4-3 vote, the Scottsdale City Council changed the language for a sales tax hike ballot measure after the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled the original language was deceptive.
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega, and Councilmembers Tom Durham, Betty Janik and Solange Whitehead voted for the language revision.
Vice Mayor Barry Graham, who was joined by Councilmembers Kathy Littlefield and Tammy Caputi in voting against the language change, tweeted on Wednesday after the vote:
In an emergency meeting yesterday, a divided City Council rushed-through a fix for the illegal ballot language of a controversial $1.2 billion tax.
Even Councilwoman Caputi voted ‘no,’ admitting the ‘inflammatory’ issue denied residents a voice.
Although the new language might be legal, I’m concerned that denying residents enough notice can further erode trust in city government.
Fire. Ready. Aim.
In an emergency meeting yesterday, a divided City Council rushed-through a fix for the illegal ballot language of a controversial $1.2 billion tax.
Even Councilwoman Caputi voted 'no,' admitting the 'inflammatory' issue denied residents a voice.
Although the… pic.twitter.com/lAF8ERJ7ZJ
— Barry Graham (@BarrySGraham) August 21, 2024
On Monday, an Arizona Appellate Court ruled against the City of Scottsdale’s sales tax proposition. If the language was unchanged, the ruling would have resulted in the removal of the measure from the 2024 general election ballot.
The Goldwater Institute sued the city on behalf of three taxpayers.
The Goldwater Institute argued that the city of Scottsdale was illegally deceiving voters about a proposed sales tax hike—falsely claiming that the tax increase is actually a tax reduction so that residents will approve it in November.
Arizona law prohibits such misleading ballot measures.
Scottsdale referred to the ballot a 0.15% sales tax to support city parks that would start on July 1, 2025. Meanwhile, an old sales tax of 0.20% for land purchases ends on June 30, 2025.
Scottsdale City Council candidate Adam Kwasman Tweeted in response to Monday’s ruling:
“Today, the Arizona Court of Appeals correctly ruled that Prop. 490, a 1.2 billion dollar tax increase, deceptively marketed as a tax cut, was unlawful. Scottsdale residents and families deserve honesty out of their councilmembers, not deceit,” said Adam Kwasman, a Scottsdale City Council candidate. “It is unfortunate that our parks and our public safety is forced to suffer because politicians refuse to listen to our concerns about the truthfulness of their language. We deserve better. Now we must come together to find a legal and practical solution that fully funds Scottsdale’s parks, preserve, and public safety, while always being transparent with the community.”
Today, the Arizona Court of Appeals correctly ruled that Prop. 490, a 1.2 billion dollar tax increase, deceptively marketed as a tax cut, was unlawful. Scottsdale residents and families deserve honesty out of their councilmembers, not deceit. It is unfortunate that our parks and…
— Adam Kwasman (@AdamKwasman) August 19, 2024