“I oppose the property tax because I don’t trust the town council not to waste the money.”

That is a theme voiced often by property tax opponents. But it is a poor excuse, based upon poor logic. The alternative to accepting a primary property tax is a rundown community with ever increasing fiscal instability, higher debt and falling property values.

Trustworthiness of the town council, and any individual member, is entirely in our own hands. One can always allude to errors that may have been made in the past or decide that a particular council person might be imprudent. But there can be no question that, most often, the intention of our town council is to do the right thing for Fountain Hills; that most of the folks we elect are capable of wise decision-making, and that aberrant decision-making can be corrected on Election Day.

No change as momentous as a property tax is without risk, but that risk is significantly less threatening than the certainty of the result of rejecting it.

A vote for the property tax is a vote for fiscal stability for our town and continuation of a high quality of life for all of us in Fountain Hills.