Every legislative session it seems like there is another debate about "impact fees," sometimes called development fees. This year is no exception. HB 2259: Local Development Fees: Procedures was introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Gilbert). Some at the legislature think this perennial debate is just another fight between homebuilders and cities, but it's much bigger than that -- impact fees impact you.
If you have purchased a new home in the last twenty years or so, odds are that the price of the home included the cost of an impact fee. The fee would have paid part of the costs for the subdivision's water and sewer lines, roads, storm drains and other infrastructure that you enjoy today. When a developer wants to build another new subdivision miles away, you probably don't want to pay for those new roads and sewer lines, too. That wouldn't be fair.
Phoenix created its impact fee program in 1988 to pay the costs of new infrastructure development in our rapidly growing city. The philosophy is simple: the costs of new roads, water and wastewater systems and other infrastructure should not be borne by residents of established areas; rather, new growth should “pay for itself.” Phoenix’s impact fee program charges the costs of new infrastructure development directly to builders, with credits and offsets available on a case-by-case basis. Impact fees are not a tax; the money that cities collect in impact fees is dedicated only to building the infrastructure that has been planned for the area they're collected in.
Any legislation that makes it harder for cities to set fees or to use them to build what's needed for a development is a problem for not just the city but all of its residents who don't want keep paying and paying for new infrastructure they'll probably never use. Right now the City of Phoenix opposes HB 2259 for those reasons. We're hopeful that we can work out our differences and not have this debate again for a year or two!
Remember to SHOP PHOENIX and tell your legislators to protect city revenues!
Source: P.L.A.N.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
AZ Taxpayer Tea Party Stirs Grassroots to Action
The Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP Arizona) reported today that it has been inundated with emails, phone calls, and Facebook hits from new taxpayer activists statewide, in response to its call yesterday for an Arizona Taxpayer Tea Party, which will take place tomorrow (Friday, February 27), from noon to one at Tempe Beach Park.
“I have received rsvp emails from over a hundred new activists during the last 24 hours,” said AFP Arizona director Tom Jenney. “And we continue to get a new crop every hour. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an outpouring of enthusiasm among taxpayer activists.”
AFP Arizona has joined allied pro-taxpayer organizations and thousands of taxpayer activists from around the country in the Tea Party campaign begun by the National Chicago Tea Party organization. Many of the new Arizona activists were discovered through AFP’s national NoStimulus.com petition campaign, in which over 430,000 Americans signed up to protest the gigantic federal spending binge.
“The liberals in Washington went ahead and passed the Spendulus package,” Jenney said. “But American taxpayers are clearly mobilizing for the next round of fights.”
One of the speakers for tomorrow’s protest is state Senator Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert), who is working in the Arizona Legislature to rally a thin majority of fiscal conservatives against proposals to raise property taxes to fix the state’s gigantic budget deficit, a deficit AFP Arizona blames on “reckless over-spending” during the Napolitano years. There will also be an appearance from Wally the (Empty) Taxpayer Wallet, known for giving out an “Empty Wallet” award to the biggest spender in the state Legislature.
The meetup for the Tea Party is at 11:45 a.m. at the Tempe Beach Park, on the south side of the lake, west of the Mill Avenue Bridge. A parking lot is available next to the park, on Rio Salado Parkway.
Source: Americans for Prosperity (AFP)
“I have received rsvp emails from over a hundred new activists during the last 24 hours,” said AFP Arizona director Tom Jenney. “And we continue to get a new crop every hour. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an outpouring of enthusiasm among taxpayer activists.”
AFP Arizona has joined allied pro-taxpayer organizations and thousands of taxpayer activists from around the country in the Tea Party campaign begun by the National Chicago Tea Party organization. Many of the new Arizona activists were discovered through AFP’s national NoStimulus.com petition campaign, in which over 430,000 Americans signed up to protest the gigantic federal spending binge.
“The liberals in Washington went ahead and passed the Spendulus package,” Jenney said. “But American taxpayers are clearly mobilizing for the next round of fights.”
One of the speakers for tomorrow’s protest is state Senator Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert), who is working in the Arizona Legislature to rally a thin majority of fiscal conservatives against proposals to raise property taxes to fix the state’s gigantic budget deficit, a deficit AFP Arizona blames on “reckless over-spending” during the Napolitano years. There will also be an appearance from Wally the (Empty) Taxpayer Wallet, known for giving out an “Empty Wallet” award to the biggest spender in the state Legislature.
The meetup for the Tea Party is at 11:45 a.m. at the Tempe Beach Park, on the south side of the lake, west of the Mill Avenue Bridge. A parking lot is available next to the park, on Rio Salado Parkway.
Source: Americans for Prosperity (AFP)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Stimulus - Yes, No, How Much?
It was a busy week! President Obama visited our state to talk about the home foreclosure crisis after signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (aka Stimulus Package), prompting a flurry of discussion at the State Legislature and Phoenix City Hall. There are high expectations for the funding. A few legislators don't want to accept any of these funds and the strings that go with them. Others see the money as an opportunity to backfill some of the State's budget shortfall.
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) analyzed ARRA's more than 1,000 pages and offered preliminary estimates with the caution that the estimates are subject to change. Funding is mostly available for two years (FY09 and FY10); it is not designed as permanent assistance; and the much of the funding comes with "maintenance of effort" conditions requiring the State to keep funding levels from dropping below past funding amounts.
For more detail, see the JLBC preliminary analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - Federal Assistance to Arizona (02/19/09). Their most recent budget and revenue updates are available at http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/what'snew.htm.
Source: P.L.A.N
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) analyzed ARRA's more than 1,000 pages and offered preliminary estimates with the caution that the estimates are subject to change. Funding is mostly available for two years (FY09 and FY10); it is not designed as permanent assistance; and the much of the funding comes with "maintenance of effort" conditions requiring the State to keep funding levels from dropping below past funding amounts.
For more detail, see the JLBC preliminary analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - Federal Assistance to Arizona (02/19/09). Their most recent budget and revenue updates are available at http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/what'snew.htm.
Source: P.L.A.N
Bills and Graffiti Update
Senate President Bob Burns (R – Peoria) is standing by his commitment not to hear any bills until the 2010 budget is finished and passed. So far 469 bills have been dropped in the Senate, yet zero are assigned to a committee. We could see some very long committee agendas if the Senate tries to squeeze all of its work on non-budget bills into a few short weeks after the budget is done.
This week, the newest member of the legislature, Representative Anna Tovar (D – Tolleson) introduced HB 2551: Criminal Damage; Classification, a bill that increases the penalty for graffiti crimes from a class 2 misdemeanor to a class 1 misdemeanor. The bill is assigned to the House Judiciary committee and is supported by the City of Phoenix.
HB 2138 Graffiti Implements; Unlawful Possession; Minors, introduced by Rep. Chad Campbell (D - Phoenix), would make it unlawful for a person under age 18 to possess a graffiti implement while on public or private property without the express consent of the property owner. This law would not apply to minors who are under direct supervision of a legally responsible adult or possess the implement in the course of lawful employment. This week, the bill was heard by the House Judiciary Committee and passed with an amendment offered by Committee Chair Adam Driggs (R - Phoenix). The adopted amendment makes the violator subject to a class 3 misdemeanor instead of a petty offense and eliminates "broad-tipped indelible markers" from the list of graffiti implements.
Source: P.L.A.N.
This week, the newest member of the legislature, Representative Anna Tovar (D – Tolleson) introduced HB 2551: Criminal Damage; Classification, a bill that increases the penalty for graffiti crimes from a class 2 misdemeanor to a class 1 misdemeanor. The bill is assigned to the House Judiciary committee and is supported by the City of Phoenix.
HB 2138 Graffiti Implements; Unlawful Possession; Minors, introduced by Rep. Chad Campbell (D - Phoenix), would make it unlawful for a person under age 18 to possess a graffiti implement while on public or private property without the express consent of the property owner. This law would not apply to minors who are under direct supervision of a legally responsible adult or possess the implement in the course of lawful employment. This week, the bill was heard by the House Judiciary Committee and passed with an amendment offered by Committee Chair Adam Driggs (R - Phoenix). The adopted amendment makes the violator subject to a class 3 misdemeanor instead of a petty offense and eliminates "broad-tipped indelible markers" from the list of graffiti implements.
Source: P.L.A.N.
Friday, February 13, 2009
P.L.A.N. Update - Disappointing Numbers
On Thursday, the legislature heard from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), who described dismal January 2009 state revenue results that are 21.5% below January 2008 revenues. Just as troubling, the January 2008 revenues were 14.4% below January 2007 revenues which adds up to a two-year decline of 39.9%. JLBC cautions that forecasting is difficult due to current economic instability. What we don't yet know is the impact of potential funding from the federal stimulus package, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). At this writing, ARRA is just about to be adopted in its final form. Once all those numbers are in, and depending on February 2009 revenue results, state legislators are preparing to address another potential shortfall in the current fiscal year of $250 million to $425 million. The FY 2009 Budget Update (2/12/09) is available at http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/what'snew.htm.
JLBC also made presentations this week to the House and Senate Appropriation Committees describing detailed lists of budget options for each of the 43 state agencies. You can access this information at FY 2010 Appropriations Hearing Presentations (2/12/09) (http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/what'snew.htm). The JLBC has also posted FY 2009 Budget Revisions Plan As Enacted (2/10/09) (http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/FY09enactedbudget.pdf) that shows how agencies will implement the adopted cuts.
In the meantime, the House of Representatives continues to hear bills while the Senate is working on FY10 state budget issues. In lieu of deliberating on legislation, Senate committees are conducting state agency reviews and studying specific tax credit programs.
It might seem some days that there's nothing but bad news, but we are so fortunate to live in a great community in a beautiful part of our country. We are focused on the future and on making Phoenix better. Remember to SHOP PHOENIX and tell your legislators to protect city revenues!
Source: P.L.A.N.
JLBC also made presentations this week to the House and Senate Appropriation Committees describing detailed lists of budget options for each of the 43 state agencies. You can access this information at FY 2010 Appropriations Hearing Presentations (2/12/09) (http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/what'snew.htm). The JLBC has also posted FY 2009 Budget Revisions Plan As Enacted (2/10/09) (http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/FY09enactedbudget.pdf) that shows how agencies will implement the adopted cuts.
In the meantime, the House of Representatives continues to hear bills while the Senate is working on FY10 state budget issues. In lieu of deliberating on legislation, Senate committees are conducting state agency reviews and studying specific tax credit programs.
It might seem some days that there's nothing but bad news, but we are so fortunate to live in a great community in a beautiful part of our country. We are focused on the future and on making Phoenix better. Remember to SHOP PHOENIX and tell your legislators to protect city revenues!
Source: P.L.A.N.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Budget Update
The Mayor and City Council voted to approve the budget on Tuesday, February 3rd. The final budget changes were made based on the incredible amount of public input received. More than 1,500 citizens attended the 14 community budget hearings, and over 500 e-mails, voice mails, and letters from concerned residents made it to City Hall. Although not everything could be saved, this is a great example of how the system works in response to the voice of Phoenix residents.
Here are a few budget items that were updated after public input:
Restore a number of Phoenix Afterschool Center (PAC) Sites
Restore Dial-a-Ride for Seniors and Non-ADA Disabled
Restore Six Small Recreation / Teen Centers
Partially Restore Graffiti Reduction
Partially Restore Funding for Phoenix Center for the Arts / Shemer
Source: Councilman Tom Simplot District 4
Focus on Foreclosure
Focus on Foreclosure
Home foreclosure is a growing problem in Phoenix and communities around our State. One of the recurring problems we are seeing is the impact of foreclosure on renters who often have no idea that the home they are renting is being foreclosed and find themselves kicked to the curb with no time to find alternative housing. The Mayor and City Council have made this issue one of this year's legislative priorities. A number of bills have been introduced this session to address this problem in various ways:
SB1275 property deeds; foreclosures; identification (Sen. Linda Gray, R - Phoenix/Glendale) requires the tenant of a foreclosed property to be notified as well as the property owner. It also requires the property owner's name and address and state be set forth fully in the deed. Other bills dealing with the issue include SB1210 foreclosures; notice; mailing (Sen. Richard Miranda, D - Phoenix) and SB1413 foreclosure sales; notice to tenants (Rep. Robert Meza, D - Phoenix). In addition, Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor (D - Phoenix) will hold a press conference to announce the introduction of SB1108 landlord-tenant; foreclosures; notice, that would require landlords to provide foreclosure notification to renters.
A Mountain of Bills
As of today, day 26 of the session, 1001 bills have been introduced: 532 in the House and 469 in the Senate. February 2 was the Senate deadline to introduce bills. Members in the House have until February 9 to file bills. True to his word, Senate President Bob Burns (R - Glendale) is holding all Senate bills and allowing only budget issues to be considered. With the 2009 budget in the bag, except for some fine-tuning, the chambers are seriously working on the 2010 budget.
ALIS Today- For today's Legislative schedule is a new link on "My PLAN." Do you want to see what committees are meeting each day and what bills they are scheduled to hear? The ALIS Today link does just that. It's a quick click to that information, plus the ability to link directly to the hearing to see it live.
Full Representation in District 13
On Tuesday morning, February 2, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Tolleson Vice Mayor Anna Tovar to replace former Representative Steve Gallardo of Legislative District 13. Gallardo won reelection but declined to take the oath of office. Anna Tovar was one of three nominees forwarded to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors by a citizens committee. District 13 covers part of the southwestern portion of Phoenix, Tolleson, and a portion of Avondale.
Source: P.L.A.N.
Home foreclosure is a growing problem in Phoenix and communities around our State. One of the recurring problems we are seeing is the impact of foreclosure on renters who often have no idea that the home they are renting is being foreclosed and find themselves kicked to the curb with no time to find alternative housing. The Mayor and City Council have made this issue one of this year's legislative priorities. A number of bills have been introduced this session to address this problem in various ways:
SB1275 property deeds; foreclosures; identification (Sen. Linda Gray, R - Phoenix/Glendale) requires the tenant of a foreclosed property to be notified as well as the property owner. It also requires the property owner's name and address and state be set forth fully in the deed. Other bills dealing with the issue include SB1210 foreclosures; notice; mailing (Sen. Richard Miranda, D - Phoenix) and SB1413 foreclosure sales; notice to tenants (Rep. Robert Meza, D - Phoenix). In addition, Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor (D - Phoenix) will hold a press conference to announce the introduction of SB1108 landlord-tenant; foreclosures; notice, that would require landlords to provide foreclosure notification to renters.
A Mountain of Bills
As of today, day 26 of the session, 1001 bills have been introduced: 532 in the House and 469 in the Senate. February 2 was the Senate deadline to introduce bills. Members in the House have until February 9 to file bills. True to his word, Senate President Bob Burns (R - Glendale) is holding all Senate bills and allowing only budget issues to be considered. With the 2009 budget in the bag, except for some fine-tuning, the chambers are seriously working on the 2010 budget.
ALIS Today- For today's Legislative schedule is a new link on "My PLAN." Do you want to see what committees are meeting each day and what bills they are scheduled to hear? The ALIS Today link does just that. It's a quick click to that information, plus the ability to link directly to the hearing to see it live.
Full Representation in District 13
On Tuesday morning, February 2, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Tolleson Vice Mayor Anna Tovar to replace former Representative Steve Gallardo of Legislative District 13. Gallardo won reelection but declined to take the oath of office. Anna Tovar was one of three nominees forwarded to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors by a citizens committee. District 13 covers part of the southwestern portion of Phoenix, Tolleson, and a portion of Avondale.
Source: P.L.A.N.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
LD15 Action Alert: Something remarkable just happened in Arizona…
Dear LD15 (Central Phoenix) Taxpayer,
Something remarkable happened this weekend (other than the Cards playing in the Super Bowl).
Gov. Jan Brewer and a majority in the Arizona Legislature voted to reduce state government spending by over five percent. They have brought the state budget within striking distance of being balanced, and have done so without raising taxes.
Please send Gov. Brewer a quick email, or better yet, leave her a brief phone message, to thank her for doing the right thing:
Gov. Jan Brewer info@brewertransition.org (602) 542-4331
Unfortunately, none of your LD15 legislators voted for the spending reductions:
Rep. David Lujan dlujan@azleg.gov 926-5829
Sen. Ken Cheuvront kcheuvront@azleg.gov 926-5325
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema ksinema@azleg.gov 926-5058
And, please forward this email to your friends and neighbors in Central Phoenix.
Gov. Brewer cut the state budget in the face of heavy protests from the recipients of government subsidies, who argued for increasing taxes, increasing debt, expanding the use of accounting gimmicks (such as a proposed higher ed rollover), and leveraging the bailout money that may come from Congress (to do your part to stop the bailout, visit www.nostimulus.com).
Gov. Brewer made a tough decision, against the advice of the editorialists at most of the state’s newspapers. For an example, read Espresso Pundit’s review of a recent Arizona Daily Star editorial: http://www.espressopundit.com/ (Scroll down to January 26th.)
Five percent may not sound like a lot, when you and your family have been working overtime and cutting back on expenses. But because of voter-mandated protections for some budget areas (mainly K-12 and health spending), the five percent had to be taken out of less than half the budget. And, with only five months left in the fiscal year, many agencies have seen their remaining budgets reduced by over 20 percent.
The spending reductions that must be made for the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, which must be passed by June 30th, will be even more difficult--and the resistance from the spending interests will be even stronger. Gov. Brewer will need all the encouragement you can give her.
Source: Americans for Prosperity
Something remarkable happened this weekend (other than the Cards playing in the Super Bowl).
Gov. Jan Brewer and a majority in the Arizona Legislature voted to reduce state government spending by over five percent. They have brought the state budget within striking distance of being balanced, and have done so without raising taxes.
Please send Gov. Brewer a quick email, or better yet, leave her a brief phone message, to thank her for doing the right thing:
Gov. Jan Brewer info@brewertransition.org (602) 542-4331
Unfortunately, none of your LD15 legislators voted for the spending reductions:
Rep. David Lujan dlujan@azleg.gov 926-5829
Sen. Ken Cheuvront kcheuvront@azleg.gov 926-5325
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema ksinema@azleg.gov 926-5058
And, please forward this email to your friends and neighbors in Central Phoenix.
Gov. Brewer cut the state budget in the face of heavy protests from the recipients of government subsidies, who argued for increasing taxes, increasing debt, expanding the use of accounting gimmicks (such as a proposed higher ed rollover), and leveraging the bailout money that may come from Congress (to do your part to stop the bailout, visit www.nostimulus.com).
Gov. Brewer made a tough decision, against the advice of the editorialists at most of the state’s newspapers. For an example, read Espresso Pundit’s review of a recent Arizona Daily Star editorial: http://www.espressopundit.com/ (Scroll down to January 26th.)
Five percent may not sound like a lot, when you and your family have been working overtime and cutting back on expenses. But because of voter-mandated protections for some budget areas (mainly K-12 and health spending), the five percent had to be taken out of less than half the budget. And, with only five months left in the fiscal year, many agencies have seen their remaining budgets reduced by over 20 percent.
The spending reductions that must be made for the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, which must be passed by June 30th, will be even more difficult--and the resistance from the spending interests will be even stronger. Gov. Brewer will need all the encouragement you can give her.
Source: Americans for Prosperity
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