City Council Proposed Tax Increases Get Blasted

The Tucson City Council proposed a myriad of tax increases, including a 2% tax on renters, increased utility, garbage, and water fees, a doubling of the hotel bed tax, and others.

The first of three public hearings on the issue was held on April 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Tucson Convention Center with May 5 and June 2 being the next hearings.

The Tucson Tea Party, Arizona Multi-Housing Association, as well as the Tucson Realtors’ Association encouraged their members to attend a rally beginning at 4:30 p.m. and wear red to protest the City Council’s proposed tax increases.

More than 1000 people turned out for the rally, with at least 2/3 of them wearing red, and 120 turned in cards to speak to the council.

Warned that more than 1000 people would attend the rally, the City Council moved the meeting from City Hall to the Tucson Convention Center. However, the room they chose could only fit 500 people at a time, forcing half of those who attended the rally to wait outside for a chance to get in.

The City Council meeting, which usually lasts much less than two hours, carried on for over five hours until past 10:30 p.m. Mayor Walkup was booed loudly when he tried to put other agenda items before the public hearing.

The vast majority of people who spoke to the council were against tax increases and advocated responsible spending as the solution.

Calls for the City Council to be recalled or resign were met with cheers.

Here is a roundup from the local media

Arizona Daily Star: Proposal for 2% tax on renters is blasted

More than 700 people turned out Tuesday night to loudly denounce a city plan to implement a 2 percent tax on renters.

With many wearing red shirts and waving signs, the crowd at the Tucson Convention Center roared as more than 75 people spoke against the proposal.

The crowd surged with standing cheers and fervent sign waving reminiscent of a campaign rally every time a speaker referenced renters’ inability to pay the proposed new tax.
Cheers followed speakers contending that approval of the rental tax would cost council members their jobs.
“There’s another solution to the budget, that is to cut spending,” consultant Andy McKnight said. “You people are just not doing your job.”

Monica Stocker, who was in the military with her husband before returning to Tucson, said she couldn’t afford the new tax in this economic environment, adding there are few renters that could.
Stocker cried as she explained how she and her husband had to ask their parents for help to make ends meet.

“We cannot afford this, none of us can,” Stocker said. “It doesn’t make sense, there’s no way to justify it.”
Dale Bieber, said he is on a fixed income and that made him learn the difference between needs and wants.
“I wonder if you have learned the difference between wants and needs,” Bieber told the council. “You’re talking real money and it’s my money.”

Several speakers told the council’s six Democrats that they should be ashamed of themselves for considering such a regressive tax. One speaker told the council Democrats they should resign from the party if they pass a rental tax.

Tucson Citizen: 700 protest proposed rent tax, higher fees at city budget hearing

About a third of the crowd wore red, a statement of solidarity against taxes in general and the proposed rental tax in particular.

Some in red were allied with the organizers of the Tucson Tea Party, which rallied 3,000 to protest taxes in front of City Hall last month.

Others wore red for the coalition of housing associations arguing that the tax would affect the poorest Tucsonans at a time they can least afford to pay.

Stories of economic woe followed one after the other. Some speakers were in tears. Others made jokes about considering eating cat food.

“Now I can’t afford to be sick,” said Reuben Hart, a disabled veteran with cats he said are better fed than him. “I’m sick of it.”

For others, the case was simple, even impersonal. “I don’t want to pay any more taxes,” Mikki Niemi said. “They could cut pay 10 percent and get rid of take-home cars, then ask for more taxes.”

Trent Humphries, an organizer of the Tucson Tea Party, opposes all the tax and fee increases, saying none addresses business infrastructure.

“They just want their slush funds,” he said of the council. “If we took care of the spending problem, we wouldn’t have to (raise taxes).”

University of Arizona Daily Wildcat: City Proposes Rental Tax

Among the multitudes of real estate developers, city employees and senior citizens in attendance, several UA students waited to voice their concerns about the proposed rental fee and tax increases.

“The city council is irresponsibly spending its money instead of cutting the fat,”

marketing senior Robert Mayer said. “I keep my bills and spending at a bare minimum. An extra 14 dollars a month goes a long way,”

“I think its events like this that matter,” Russian senior Kai Kaapro said. “The councilmen look into the people’s eyes and know they need to do something different.”

The Tucson Tea Party will continue to push for responsible government in the city. We have all tightened our belts, but the city has yet to do so. Let it be known that if the City Council tries to pass a tax increase during this economic recession, the Tucson Tea Party will be there to organize a recall election.