Steven Robinson, Golden Valley Resident

• Originally Published: July 27, 2017 6 a.m

The Mohave County Board of Supervisors considered a 1/4 cent excise (sales) tax increase July 17 to solve our pension problem foisted on all local governments by the state. Chairman Gary Watson’s proposal was defeated in a 4-1 vote, on an issue requiring unanimous consent. Buster Johnson cast the dissenting vote.
The board then heard various supervisors’ proposals to bridge the alleged $2.8 million deficit in the general fund budget. Hildy Angius proposed using excess cash reserves with no property tax increase to balance the budget. By contrast, Jean Bishop proposed a 30-cent property tax.

Buster was right this time; Bishop is not.

Arizona’s management of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) and Elected Official Retirement Plan (EORP) has been terrible to say the least. The legislature attempted to fix the problem in 2011, and the recent State Supreme Court decisions ruled their fixes unconstitutional. The state “dumped” the problem on various county and local governments, requiring them to cough up the money. Hence, Mohave County has an added liability of $39 million.

Other governments are shell-shocked, with limited ability to raise taxes. By contrast, Mohave County has little debt and lower taxes. County leaders’ solution: raise taxes; Buster says, “Not so fast!”

He refused to vote for the increase until the governor and legislature addresses the situation. That is the correct course of action. There’s no hurry to rush headlong into any solution until parties define the problem.

I understand other supervisors’ reasoning: they have the authority and capacity to increase. The pension liability is a significant issue, deserving board attention; ultimately, the tax may be necessary. But the fact is: We don’t have all the facts. Buster made his point loud and clear: “Let’s not rush headlong into a solution when you don’t know the extent of the problem.”

I applaud Buster for this decision. He saved some dignity after pushing an unnecessary tax increase in 2015.

But regarding Jean, not so much; she’s been a champion of big government.

The $2.8 million deficit that County Administrator Mike Hendrix and Finance Director Coral Loyd presented to the board had one solution: raise property taxes.

They pointed out problems: the pension lawsuit requires a $1.2 million refund to employees; and the typical increases in employees’ wages and various other expenses. The county recommended a 16-cent increase, while ignoring the Sheriff’s Department’s attrition problem. Sheriff Doug Schuster stated he was losing deputies due to a lower salary range and “compression.” That’s when a 10-year veteran makes the same or slightly more, as a first-year deputy.

So, Jean Bishop’s solution? Raise taxes even more! She proposed a 30-cent property tax increase, nearly double. She rejected other solutions, such as using reserves to cover the shortfall.

For example, the county started FY2016 with $12 million balance, and it’d be the same at the end of the year. Instead, they finished with $17.1 million in the general fund, $5 million more.

For 2017 they said they’d end with $15 million. Instead the county’s estimated balance is a whopping $23 million, almost double two years ago!

Can’t we use some of that cash to cover the deficit? Not according to Bishop, Hendrix, or Loyd. I’m not surprised by Hendrix and Bishop; lifelong bureaucrats love all that cash; but I’m dismayed with Coral. At the city, Coral’s budget defined “Use of Fund Balance” as a legitimate tool to solve shortfalls. Why hasn’t she proposed it now?

Furthermore, revenues are up $6 million from 2015, to over $78 Million. In the past two years the County has received $10 million more. Now that the economy is back on track, tax revenues and fees are projected to continue increasing steadily. So, the problem isn’t a lack of money.

So why are Bishop and Watson so eager to raise taxes while Angius was not? As Obama’s sidekick and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel would say, “Never let a good crisis go to waste!” You can’t raise taxes when everything is OK, so you focus on the hype, not the facts.

There are problems the county must solve, including this pension issue; but the biggest problem appears to be “staff infection” …believing those tasked with preparing and presenting a budget, that the county is in a crisis. We expect such rhetoric from them, but we shouldn’t expect it from our elected officials.

Raising taxes isn’t just unnecessary this year, it’s just plain wrong. The public hearing and final budget approval is scheduled for Aug. 7.