My household received an election mailing last week from “The Fountain Hills Team.” Two of the campaign issues mentioned by “The Team” in that mailing were “reduce taxes for the people and the businesses” and “maintain a healthy balanced budget.”

Since the Town has no primary property tax, which taxes does “The Team” plan to reduce? Is it the sales tax, which is paid by consumers, not businesses? The sales tax accounts for 61% of the budgeted revenue in the Town’s General Fund. How much is “The Team” planning on reducing the sales tax, and how much less revenue will the Town have because of that? On the business side, what taxes do businesses in Fountain Hills pay that “The Team” wants to reduce?

In terms of a balanced budget, the Town is already required to have a balanced budget. So, the issue must be what constitutes a “healthy” balanced budget. What changes would “The Team” make to change the Town’s already-balanced budget into a so-called “healthy” one?

When candidates run on a reduce-taxes platform, typically that also means no new taxes. If the citizen pavement management committee decides that bonding is the best way to “fix the roads,” as one Team candidate touts, and the Council approves that as a ballot question to be submitted to the voters, that is a new tax. So, when “The Team” casts their individual ballots on the bonding issue, will they vote no and thus not “fix the roads?”

Perhaps one of “The Team” could give us specifics as to their tax cuts and healthy balanced budget ideas – and how they will find $4 million per year for roads using existing revenues. I look forward to their reply – with specifics, not generalities, in a letter or an ad next week in The Times.