The next time you depart from or return to your Fountain Hills home, survey the condition of the street in front of your house. Likely it will show all the signs of having been brand new…decades ago. Now there will be emerging fissures and cracks, reflecting the inevitable onset of deterioration.

Without enactment of a property tax our town will not have the resources to resurface the many, many miles of roads that are reaching the end of their useful life. So, when you put your home up for sale in a few years, consider what prospective buyers will see as they arrive for an open house. The cracks will have expanded. There might be a pothole or two. What a great first impression!

Fortunately, we have The Fountain Hills Times to bring us news about, and letters from, community leaders who understand the essential need for new revenue. Let’s hope our elected officials show the leadership necessary to rally public support for a property tax. Absent a successful campaign, town government is destined to become a municipal slumlord. The eventual costs to its residents will far exceed any property tax bill.