This past week there were two letters to The Times stating concerns about a primary property tax.

The first indicated that other towns offer all the amenities such as trash pickup, water and sewage, as well as fire and police protection, so why can’t Fountain Hills? I want to quickly point out that we do have fire and police protection currently being paid for by sales tax, building fees, state shared revenue and other sources.

However, where do other communities get the funds for all the services mentioned above? As there are no fairy godmothers available, they probably use some form of taxation, and very likely at a much higher rate than that being proposed by the Town Council. For example, my son lives in a Chicago suburb in a home worth about twice that of mine, yet he pays ten times what my taxes are. Plus, he pays extra for trash pickup and must purchase a decal for each of his cars in order to park in the town.

The second writer expressed concern that we have no control over how the elected town officials will spend the revenue generated by the proposed tax. Arizona law is quite clear on how much taxes may be increased without a vote by the electorate, and how those funds are spent is very transparent through annual financial reports. An informed electorate will keep elected officials in line.

By the way, for those who don’t remember, we had a secondary property tax from the start of the town via special taxing districts for roads, which ended with incorporation, and the fire district, which ended in 2001. Those days are long gone and so are the monies that came with those special district property taxes.

Please vote yes on the property tax proposition.