蜜柚直播

In a letter to constituents sent last week, 蜜柚直播 Vice Mayor Paul Cunningham and Councilman Steve Kozachik said the policy 鈥渋s keeping city of 蜜柚直播 residents鈥� primary property tax artificially higher than it would be without the plan in order to pay for road repair outside of the city limits.鈥�

鈥淭he Board of Supervisors can and should rescind the PAYGO policy as far as it uses city of 蜜柚直播 property taxes to pay for road repair in unincorporated Pima County,鈥� the letter states. 鈥淜eeping it intact as it is currently written places all of the relational progress we鈥檝e made over the past 10 years in jeopardy, and is bad timing as the City Council will soon be considering issues such as water rates, both within and outside of city limits, and what our support for the RTA extension might look like.鈥�

The letter comes about three months after the supervisors passed the pay-as-you-go plan as a way to fund county infrastructure projects through fiscal year 2030.

Officials estimated in November that the plan would generate $387 million, with an estimated $220 million being used for county road repairs. The money for the projects comes from a percentage of the secondary property tax and a portion of the taxes no longer needed to pay off bonds.

Kozachik told the 蜜柚直播 on Friday that 蜜柚直播 residents, who make up a little less than half of the county鈥檚 population, should have a 鈥渟eat at the table鈥� when it comes to discussing road projects.

鈥淚f they want to allocate 40% of what they鈥檙e collecting on this artificial property tax increase and let us choose (the roads), we can have that conversation. But it needs to be a conversation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e going to talk about property tax increases and using those to fund roads, we need to be at the table, both in terms of what that increase would be and which roads are going to be fixed. ... What they鈥檙e doing is technically totally legal. It鈥檚 not ethical.鈥�

Cunningham called what Pima County is doing 鈥渁bsolutely vile.鈥�

鈥淭his is one of the most disgusting things a government can do. They are taking tax monies paid in hard-working and blue-collar neighborhoods and using it to fix roads in some of the county鈥檚 wealthiest areas,鈥� said Cunningham, who threatened to take Pima County to court on behalf of 蜜柚直播.

Representatives from Pima County did not respond to phone and email requests for comment on Monday 鈥� a county holiday for Presidents Day. But Pima County administrator Chuck Huckelberry addressed the letter in a memo to supervisors on Friday in which he argued that while the county is allocating money for county road repairs, it 鈥渄oes not create an equity issue with the municipalities鈥� due to the voter-approved 1997 Highway User Revenue Fund Bond Program.

He attached a table that showed 蜜柚直播 has received a little more than $1 billion for road projects through 2019 through HURF money, while the county has received about $884 million during the same time period. Oro Valley received roughly $57 million, South 蜜柚直播 $9.3 million, Sahuarita $22 million and Marana $39 million during the same time period.

鈥淚t also noteworthy that the unincorporated county鈥檚 2,171 centerline miles of roadways is 21.6% greater than the city鈥檚 1,703 centerline miles; and that state-shared revenues are the only dedicated funding source for unincorporated roadways,鈥� Huckelberry wrote.

He added that the PAYGO is a 鈥渓imited-term strategy鈥� and took issue that the city raised its concerns during the upcoming fiscal year budget process.

In response, Kozachik said that if Huckelberry 鈥渨ants to complain about interrupting a budget cycle, we鈥檙e right in the middle of that, too.鈥�

He said the city is currently discussing water rate increases, environmental services increases, recycling increases, parks fees and changes in impact fees, calling that potential burden to city taxpayers as 鈥渄eath by 1,000 paper cuts.鈥�

He pointed out that the city has been able to pass bonds to fund road projects, while the county hasn鈥檛. 蜜柚直播 voters passed Proposition 101 in 2017, which increased the city sales tax by a half-cent to generate $100 million for roads, while the PAYGO policy was crafted after county voters rejected a $430 million bond for road repairs in 2018.

鈥淭hey clearly have a trust issue with the voters. They鈥檝e been completely unable to get their support for anything that they鈥檝e thrown out there. And this is no way to increase your trust with voters 鈥� especially voters in the city of 蜜柚直播,鈥� Kozachik said.