Property taxes and local government finances can be confusing. Most of us do not spend a lot of time researching or studying what this proposed $7 million permanent tax hike is really about. Here are some facts I have learned:

1. The proposed tax will increase your property taxes by about 20 percent; it is not “pennies a day.”

2. The tax increase will be permanent and you will pay it each and every year forever; it is not just for a year or so.

3. The town council can spend the $7 million tax increase on whatever they choose. The money is not restricted to roads and public safety. This is a $7 million blank check.

4. If passed, we will have one of the highest property taxes in Maricopa County. We already have one of the highest sales taxes. This will discourage people from buying or building a home in Fountain Hills. It will decrease our property values.

There is a well-organized and well-funded group of people who are supporting the $7 million permanent tax increase. They just mailed me a postcard asking me to vote yes and raise my property taxes by 20 percent.

If you want “the other side of the story,” check out this new website. I found it well researched and full of information you cannot get elsewhere. That website is nonewtax.us. Please look at it and don’t forget to take the quiz at the end.