OPINION — During the recent call to public session, resident Gene Selchta’s comments regarding Fountain Hills’ financial health directly contradicted the official data presented just 30 minutes prior by Town CFO Paul Soldinger.
Mr. Slechta claimed town revenues are worse than they were two to three years ago, aiming criticism at Mayor Friedel and current council. However, the third quarter revenue report shows revenues are up 4.18%. Furthermore, previous drops in transaction privilege tax (TPT) collections between 2023 and 2024 were driven by a real estate market pullback — specifically the loss of long-term residential rental taxes — and a natural post-pandemic retail correction. Blaming the current administration for those numbers is chronologically impossible, as they were not seated until December 2024. This drop in TPT happened during the Dickey administration, so let’s assign blame properly and fairly for what happened “2 to 3 years ago.”
Similarly, the claim that business is declining falls flat against the CFO’s report, which showed third quarter TPT collections tracking well above projections. One only has to look around town to see the evidence of new business openings, construction and corporate expansions.
