Response to the letter written by Mr. Southey-
Published in the Vail Sun
September 26, 2007

    Editor:

This is in response to the letter written by Mr. Southey which is being published in newspapers throughout the state. Everyone should know that Mr. Southey is the Bullhead City fire chief and President of the Statewide Fire Chief's Assoc. that lobbies for the various fire departments, many of which have also increased their property tax levy by double digits for the last several years. During this period many taxpayers have seen little if any personal income growth and are in danger of losing their property due to property taxes that have nearly doubled in a few short years.

What Mr. Southey really cares about is the Property Tax Levy Rollback measure which the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers is referring to as the "golden bullet," meaning that it would rollback and limit future property tax increases to 2 percent per year, forcing government to live on this 2 percent increase plus the tax paid by new growth. The levy rollback measure has only one computation, the average of the taxing entity's last four levies. Mr. Southey is claiming that both property tax rollback measures are overly complex.

We can not be fooled, as many among us heard the same claims from bureaucrats like Mr. Southey when Proposition 13 was being considered by California's voters in 1978. In California, post Prop 13 many budgets were cut, some by more than 50 percent. Services were provided and the threatened cuts in services, longer response times and layoffs didn't materialize. The bureaucrats in California following the California Tax Revolt (Prop 13) did what Mr. Southey will do, they earned their generous salaries and benefits by cutting the waste and inefficiency endemic in all bureaucracies.

Our goal is to take back a portion of the windfall tax increases seen in the last several years, to establish limits on future property tax increases and to assure that the voters have the last say on any increased tax above permitted levy limits and even a means to lower levies.

Marc Goldstone, Chair.
Arizona Tax Revolt
Bullhead City

And a final comment: Since this Letter to the Editor was written, Mohave Co. property tax bills arrived. They show that Mr. Southey's Fire Department increased its property tax levy by more than 50% this year alone, and 78% in the last three years, yet Southey doesn't understand why we need a tax revolt. He need only look in the mirror.