Local government officials are closest to the pulse of a community.

There is an alarming trend across the country, including here in Arizona, to preempt local decision-making. The result of this is undercutting the ability of local officials to make decisions that they believe are in the best interest of their citizens. As stated in the Columbia Law Review, “…state and federal legislators have shifted from emphasizing local control to promoting broad state preemption statutes designed to reduce local power.”

We local elected officials are often asked by frustrated constituents, “Why don’t you do something?” Our answer is often, “We can’t.” The Arizona Legislature passes bills with impunity that block the ability of local officials to solve problems that plague our municipalities. Do state officials confer with the local officials to attempt to understand the impact of their actions?

Almost never. They leave it up to cities and towns to spend their scarce resources on lobbyists or organizations like the League of Arizona Cities and Towns to attempt to amend or derail legislation that they believe will have a negative impact on their communities. Often times locals are up against private, self-serving companies that give campaign contributions to legislators in an attempt to affect the outcome. Where does the power of the state derive?

In 1868, Judge John Forest Dillon determined that, “Municipal corporations (towns) derive their origin to, and derive their powers and rights wholly from the legislature.” States point to this ruling to justify anything they choose to do to co-opt the decisions of local government. I contend that the Arizona Legislature uses this “power” too zealously, and to our local detriment.

Agree or not with specific legislation, the question is: should the legislature be making decisions without conferring with local governments to determine the potential impact?

Examples:

*Other than property taxes, local officials cannot base a fee (e.g. an environmental fee) on the value of a home or business. The impact is that cities and towns must collect the same amount of money for a 10,000-square-foot home as for a 1000-square-foot condominium!

*Effective in 2014, changes were made to impact fees. Impact fees are one-time payments developers make to municipalities for construction of single family homes and apartments. They are intended to pay for services for new residents such as roads, water treatment, parks, etc. Prior to passage of the bill, Fountain Hills charged developers approximately $8,130 for a single family home. Due to a revised definition of what towns can charge, the fee can now be no higher than approximately $1,600. That has had a major impact on our financial picture. (Until 2013, the town relied heavily on this income.)

*(HB2115) Supported by apartment industry lobbyists, will prevent local governments from enforcing any new landlord rules passed after Dec. 31, 2018.

*Most recently, on the eve of the Memorial Day holiday, the Arizona legislature passed a bill intended to make it even more difficult for citizens to get an issue on the ballot. This, too, affects the wishes of our citizens.

*Arizona State Law requires local jurisdictions to update their general plans every 10 years. The cost to Fountain Hills taxpayers in 2019 was $100,000, with no funding help from the state!

This legislative power grab has had a significant negative impact on Arizona local governments. Since, by state law, cities and towns must balance their budgets, it starves local governments of needed revenue and gives local elected officials no choice but to eliminate public services.

The bottom line: Many local government decisions have been usurped by the state – to the detriment of our citizens.