Sales Tax Decline and Bond Debt

There are two very interesting articles in the news today. One about Mesa's falling tax revenue and another about the City potentially adding more to the bond package. I don't think we can really talk about one without the other.

The city wants more money to pay for some basic needs like more fire stations, yet the sales tax is falling and its unclear where we are going to find the money to operate them. The State of Arizona is on the brink of a Billion dollar deficit. Sales taxes are down and I even heard that road funding is going to come up short. Perhaps, its time to do some cutting. The guy from Chronic Car Audio mentioned in his interview that he had to cut payroll to make ends meet while we are in this downturn.

So, where are Mesa's cuts? I'd like to see what we are going to cut so we have the money to pay the $1.7 million needed annually to pay for the $5.7 million station at 104th Street and Broadway Road. I understand the need for these critical services. I am likely to support the bond and pay the secondary property tax.

I just want to know how we are going to pay it back in a reasonable amount of time and how we are going to have the money in the future to operate this. One of the commenters points out an operations and maintenance portion of the bond, which is something I am much less likely to support.