Wednesday, February 7, 2006
PRESS RELEASE FOR DISTRIBUTION
FROM STOP TAXING OUR PROPERTY (STOP) CAMPAIGN TO DEFEAT THE 2006 PHOENIX BOND ISSUE
To those who are following the Stop Taxing Our Property campaign against the 2006 Phoenix Bond Program:
The signs say "No New Taxes". Is that really true? Of course it's not. The City is relying on the additional revenue resulting from the reassessment of property values this month to pay for the new annually scheduled bond payment which will show up on the City's budget as a new budget item. The average increase Phoenix property owners will pay is 23%.
But wont the bonds help Historic Preservation efforts? You'd think so by reading the city's website. However, as reported in the Arizona Republic on January 30, "At the discretion of the Executive Bond Committee, money can be moved between projects listed on a proposition but never between propositions." This means that even if the bond prop you vote for passes, there is zero guarantee that the program you favor will be funded.
So why vote no on the bond?
1) if the city does not generate the new budget item for annual payment of the new bond, money will be freed up for a tax rate reduction
2) the city will not provide the funds it says it will for things like historic preservation
3) to save 1 billion (city's estimate) to 2 billion (what the prop questions are asking the voters to authoritze) in interest payments
4) you can have the SAME PROGRAMS anyway without the bond via the normal budget approval process
5) if we aren't paying interest, over time we can buy MORE of the bond projects and services you like, up to 2 times more!
For more information on the Phoenix bond program, please visit http://www.bondtruth.com or e-mail info@bondtruth.com.