Despite reports in “newspapers” and statements from pundits, including local elected officials, asserting otherwise, the case of Transparent Payson vs. The Town of Payson has not been resolved.  A court date has been set for a bench trial.

The trial is scheduled for April 19th, presumably in Payson.  We will update the time once it is confirmed.  The address is 714 Beeline Highway S, Payson, AZ 85541.  The Court has a YouTube channel if you cannot attend in person.  That date is 374 days or twelve months, one week and two days after the Town Council threw away the citizens’ will and votes.  We think the Council has an absolute duty to uphold the people’s will.  The Arizona Supreme Court came to that conclusion in 1934.

As always, we can use your continued support.  You can donate here.  We suspect voters’ rights are a lot like teeth.  You will miss them when they are gone.

While the rest of the world has been speeding along, the justice system has not moved so fast.  Judicial time appears to be measured with a sundial, not a stopwatch.  So, let us have a year in review and take a look at the impact on Payson’s residents’ pocketbooks.

The purported repeal of Proposition 401 and 402 was April 12^th, 2023.  When Ordinance 953 and 954  were approved, they were done using an “emergency declaration.”  Before they were adopted, we submitted a letter to Council Members addressing our concern about using an emergency ordinance.  The suit by Transparent Payson was filed on May 8^th, 2023.

Then things got even more interesting. 

• The Town of Payson attempted to intimidate a Transparent Payson Board Member.  They have recently focused on another vocal opponent by preemptively “trespassing” them from Town Council meetings in any location and City Hall.  A picture of the letter from the police department:

• The Town of Payson increased the Town’s budget by 31%.  Did your raise exceed inflation?
• The Town of Payson filed an answer and counter-sued a private citizen seeking monetary damages.  (Don’t you dare take a stand for your rights!)
• The Town of Payson repealed a sunset provision on a “temporary tax” of .88%, then raised sales taxes an additional 1%.  Despite what others spin, the truth is we will have the seventh-highest sales tax rate in the state.  How does that saying go?  Figures don’t lie, but liars’ figure.

There was no apparent regard for the potential impact on local business.   A drive to Mesa will get an 8.3% rate and no food tax.   Are you in the market for a $50,000.00 car?   Save money, up to 4% or $2,000.00, depending on where you go, by leaving Town.  A single mom with two children buying groceries?  Payson will collect 1.902% of her annual take-home pay when she buys food for herself and her children.

All tax actions were completed using an “Emergency Ordinance.” Perfectly legal.  Does it represent the spirit of good governance?  Democracy in action?  You decide.  The Town Council does not need your pesky input or possible voter referendums.

But wait, there is MORE!

On March 5^th, 2024, there will be a work-study session.  The Council will discuss raising the secondary property tax rate to the maximum the law allows.  The increase would be a  30.71% increase to the local property tax rate.  Recall one of the reasons the Town removed the sunset of the .88% sales tax from 2017 and a reason to raise the sales tax an additional 1% (34.72% increase, from 2.88% to 3.88%) was that the Town of Payson had no secondary property tax.  It appears that will change.  The work-study agenda is below in .pdf format, as is the corresponding PowerPoint presentation.

Don’t forget…

There is a planned General Obligation bond (MORE property tax) in 2025.  A General obligation bond would address the other priorities of the CIPCAC as listed in this presentation.   That bond vote is scheduled for a 2025 off-year vote.    After all of the above, can citizens bleed more?

Town Council is off to the races with your money.

President Ronald Regan summed it up best in his address to the Nation on the Economy, October 1982.

In a way I guess I can understand why so many of our political leaders fell into this trap.  I’m sure they did it with the best of intentions.  It’s easy to lose touch with reality when it is other people’s money that you’re spending.  And there are so many things you want to do for those or this or that special-interest group — so many programs, many of them quite attractive and well-meaning, that can only be subsidized by more government taxing, spending, and borrowing. . . . But there came a day when I and millions of other Americans began to realize the terrible consequences of all those years of playing politics as usual while the economic disaster lines crept higher and higher.

We wonder how soon Payson’s day of reckoning will be given the current tax and spending plans.  Is there recourse?  It is an election year.  We hope some sound fiscal thinkers take spots on the Town Council.

One of the more famous quotes on spending other people’s money is this:

Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess.  They always run out of other people’s money. *

Margaret Thatcher

*often quoted as ‘the problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people’s money.’

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COMMON COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF PAYSON AGENDA OF THE WORK STUDY MEETING MARCH 5, 2024

Presentation regarding Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Property Tax.