Mayor Greg Stanton vowed to repeal the food sales tax if he were elected again. Now, he is vowing to preserve the tax “protect the city’s first responders from potentially harmful budget cuts.”
Standard procedure for cities who have not budgeted responsibly is to hold hostage the public’s health and safety. Stanton following the standard operating procedures told the public last week that repealing the regressive sale food tax, which deeply impacts the working classes, would force the City to put the first responders at “long-term risk.”
Phoenix City Councilman, Sal DiCiccio says that he is very disappointed in Stanton’s his decision to break his promise. “The citizens have relied on his decision. The citizens have relied on his commitment and, once again, their city is letting them down.”
DiCiccio says that “the middle class and the poor are the ones who will be impacted the most. What makes this decision even more unfortunate is that over $106 million in pay raises have been doled out to city employees while Phoenix citizens have not had one penny of relief.”
The unions, traditionally against regressive taxes, have applied tremendous pressure to city officials.
According to a budget prepared by City Manager David Cavazos, intended to justify the regressive tax and ramp up the scare tactics, sun-setting the citywide food tax two years earlier than scheduled would force the city to lay off 99 sworn police officers and sergeants and leave three positions unfilled.
As expected, city officials also threatened the children, and advised the public that the City would have to eliminate half of the city’s after-school programs. They would also have to cut domestic violence and child victims’ advocacy programs by $550,000.
Due to pension problems, 70 percent of the City’s general fund budget pays for the police officers and firefighters. However, Stanton says now that he wants to “push to pass real pension reform that will save taxpayers $600 million.”
According to the city manager, revenues are expected to fall $20 million short of projections, and the city’s pension payments are $15 million higher than expected.
Hiding behind women and children, Stanton called upon community leaders to defend their funding, “Domestic violence is a public safety and victims’ rights issue. It would be a shame for Phoenix to move backward at this critical juncture — funding for services and enforcement must be maintained, said Allie Bones, executive director of the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
“Many library users have no access to computers at home and the library is their only way to access the web to search for jobs, submit applications and get back on their feet,” said Alexis Boyle, Community Programs Coordinator for Friends of the Phoenix Library. “ Students use the library as a place to do homework, parents as a place to access reading material and programming for their kids, and countless others use their library to learn new skills. Phoenicians need their libraries to be open and available. It’s a necessity, not a luxury.”
The Arizona Republic Editorial Board noted that “If the Phoenix Mayor’s Office conducted tours for schoolkids, you would expect to see them on the cut list too. Cue the weeping sixth-graders!”
According to the Arizona Republic, “Nothing in the budget materials presented by Stanton and Cavazos suggests they gave any serious consideration to laying the groundwork for eliminating the tax early. The rest of the council should remedy that, and if it doesn’t, the public should insist on such action in the forthcoming budget hearings.”
Councilman Di Ciccio told residents late last week that the “credibility of the city of Phoenix has been damaged. The ability of people to trust the word of Phoenix officials has further diminished.” Di Ciccio vowed to fight to repeal the tax.
The regressive 2 percent food tax was assessed in 2010 was opposed by Stanton until it wasn’t. In his February 28 State of the City speech, he notified the public that his campaign promises were as empty as many of his constituents’ wallets.