Clarkdale Mayor Blasts Legislature

Mayor Von Gausig does not like what the state legislature is doing to his town, or yours:

At 4 o'clock in the morning on June 4th, with only one political party represented, the Arizona State Senate launched an attack on the cities and towns of the Verde Valley.

He charges that the legislature is looking out for special interests (namely, valley home builders) at the expense of municipal governments. In the budget proposal passed under the cover of darkness impact fees of $10,000 per new home will be transferred to the towns-- who will then need to raise local taxes to cover the costs. The legislature hopes you will not connect the dots and see that they are the source of this tax increase.

Even without the tax increase, towns and cities are finding it difficult to provide the level of basic services (read: sewage, police, fire) we assume will always be there. He sees the situation in your community worsening if the legislature's budget is signed by the governor.

I understand the difficulty the legislature has before it, and I get the gravity of the situation.

But I also know that the cities, towns and counties of Arizona are in similar dire straits. Any reduction of revenues to our municipalities will result in detrimental and sometimes unsafe cutbacks and elimination of critical services. Water, wastewater, police and fire protection are all essential services that are provided by our cities and towns, not by any state agency. The State of Arizona dictates that local governments must provide these vital services to the public, but they want to limit our ability to pay for it.

The Legislature seems to believe your city is just another expense to be cut without considering the value of the services they provide to citizens. The latest budget proposal includes "fixes" like forcing your town to give money to school systems, moratoriums on development impact fees, and "reforms" of our construction sales taxes that cripple our ability to serve you. Many of these appear to be downright illegal, but the Legislature has said they'll let the courts figure that out - and you'll pay for the lawyers.

More expensive lawsuits. Just what the state needs.

Is responsibility not a value at the capitol?