There are thousands upon thousands of dollars being spent by Save Our Town to convince us to pass the new property tax referendum. Who are they and why do they want the town to have this massive new tax?

The town cannot use public funds for this election, but individually politicians (there is a long list of them who support this) can and most likely are behind this effort. Why? Because in all governmental bureaucracies the power to tax and spend is the tool that is most coveted.

Therefore it is the duty of citizens, whenever possible, to limit tax dollars flowing directly into the general fund by directing how those dollars are to be used; such as employing earmarks, sunset or end dates and restricting usage. Without such barriers each decision maker from our mayor/council to administrators are set loose to pursue their favorite scheme using unrestricted tax dollars, like a lagoon.

And by virtue of the massive funding allowed by this referendum, Fountain Hills’ town government gets unlimited, non-voter-checked spending ability. I am absolutely for making Fountain Hills the best it can be. But I am not for giving government, any government, a blank check or opening the floodgates to over-collect and amass tax dollars from us.

This Referendum, as written, continues on year after year and can raise our property taxes by 20 percent. There are other approaches to funding needed road and public safety requirements and I hope the town listens to the growing cry from its citizenry to put before us a responsible plan to fund town government. Vote no on May 15, it is the responsible thing to do.