I found it ironic that the former mayor, Sharon Morgan, would write a letter talking about her time in office. She wrote about how we have to trust the individuals we vote into office.

Mrs. Morgan was the mayor at the time the town took over the Fire District. The District was one of the best-run and lowest cost Districts in the state of Arizona. The District had its own secondary property tax that could only be used for the District. The District had one of the lowest tax rates in the state and we had a guarantee where the tax dollars were going to be spent. She was significant in taking that away from the good citizens of Fountain Hills.

I find it also ironic that, if Morgan wanted to talk about her time in office, she did not remind the readers that she was also mayor when the town council did away with the Marshal’s Department.

The Marshal’s Department for the town of Fountain Hills had been building slowly over a couple of years with the intent of taking over law enforcement duties from the Sheriff’s Office.

The town manager informed us at a meeting I attended last month that the Sheriff’s Office is going to have to start increasing the contract cost with the town at a rate of 10 percent per year. Why? The Sheriff’s Office has been underfunding its pension plan for years. We, as the good citizens of Fountain Hills, now have to pick up the cost for the whole county.

If we had our own fire department and law enforcement department, we would control the rising cost.

I find it very hard to trust the former mayor’s advice in voting for the property tax. I trust I’m going to have to vote no.