It bothers me when I hear someone say, “Our town has survived with never having had a property tax, so why do we need one now?”

Oh for gosh sakes. The fact is, Fountain Hills had a local primary property tax for decades. Those taxes were levied for the road district starting in 1972 and for the fire district starting in 1977. However, the road district was dissolved in 1990 and the fire district in 2001. That is when the town embarked on a path of financial unsustainability.

It bothers me when someone says, “The town should just reduce staff.” Goodness gracious, they’ve cut the staff from 116 to 56.

It bothers me when someone says, “The town is asking for too much.” Holy cow! For the average home, which has a market value of approximately $350,000, the proposed tax would only be about one dollar per day. And that will drop to about 75 cents per day after the Saguaro Road Bond is paid off in 2020. That is nothing in comparison to how much your property value will fall if our town is not properly maintained.

But what bothers me most are the choices the town will face if the tax is not approved. You would notice if a park closes. You would notice if the fountain is turned off. You would notice if public safety is reduced. We’d all be saying much more than “gosh sakes” and “holy cow.”

Please don’t put our wonderful town into this position and then later complain about potholes, a closed park or that you can’t sell your home. Support your town so it can be properly maintained, just as we all work hard to properly maintain our own property. For gosh sakes, vote yes.