Thirty-five years ago, my family chose Fountain Hills for our home town; a decision that has now spanned generations and provided many happy memories and experiences that continue today.

However, our basic quality of life is being diminished by a lack of reliable resources, making it now more difficult for the town to attract residents of all ages, encourage economic activity and provide for our residents.

Prior to 2002, our community had fire and road districts. We all paid primary property taxes for streets and fire protection, in addition to those that currently exist. The loss of those taxes, in addition to other factors such as decreased State Shared Revenue allocation, formerly available sources removed by State law, and diversion of road revenue away from municipalities since 2003, have left Fountain Hills unable to sustain our assets or offer adequate public service.

That said, I recognize $7 million is a big ask. If the tax passes, we should ask for a citizen oversight committee, with open opportunities to participate, to insure the supplemental funding is properly, transparently focused. We will see a large majority of funds ($4 million) being targeted to specific roads easily identified as needing replacement, every year. The rest would go to public safety, which is half our budget, other infrastructure needs and to replace the removal of the environmental fee.

I respect the sacrifice of our community’s property owners facing this decision. In the spirit of my family’s initial faith and commitment to our town, I support the proposed tax and encourage the voters of Fountain Hills to approve this request.