They say the third time is the charm. Come May 2018, we stand to find out if that is the case with a potential primary property tax for Fountain Hills. Such a tax has failed voter approval twice since the town was incorporated, but developments in recent years have led the Town Council to believe that more residents are now on board with the idea.

We agree. We’ve been hearing for years now that the money coming in and the money going out are no longer equal, with a revenue shortfall of about $6.4 million per year most recently forecast for the next decade. The town’s roads are still in need of repair and the cost of public safety is going up. In short, Fountain Hills can no longer support itself on the back of a sales tax alone.

Last week we reported that the Town Council has unanimously approved a motion to instruct Town Manager Grady Miller to prepare a ballot proposal asking local voters to weigh in on the authorization of a primary property tax; one that would raise about $7 million each year. That’s enough to cover the projected shortfall with some extra room to spare. The proposal is expected to reach the Council in the next few weeks and, if approved, it will likely appear on the May 2018 ballot.

The results of the Vision Fountain Hills process pointed toward a desire by residents to at least see a property tax question appear on a future ballot, giving voters a chance to once again weigh in on whether or not they want to start footing the bill for town maintenance and improvements. More recently, the discussion concerning a potential Fountain Park lagoon has led to additional buzz from residents who seem less interested in a “major attraction” and more interested in a property tax. Over the past few years, we’ve also seen quite a few letters to the editor calling for a property tax vote.

On Oct. 10, the Council finally decided to move forward on the matter, and we applaud them for it. We’d like to see the proposal and hear further discussion before making any sort of endorsement but, for now, we wholeheartedly approve of seeing the measure on an upcoming ballot. More and more residents have been calling for it, so it’s nice to see the Council respond.

Mayor Linda Kavanagh perhaps said it best during the recent special session, stating that, “We need to realize that if we want a quiet hometown, we need to pay for it ourselves.” This is one of those situations where Fountain Hills can’t have its cake and eat it too. If we want Fountain Hills to continue to thrive without relying on grand projects like the much-discussed lagoon, we might need to finally put our money where our mouth is.