Stop trying to push through a primary property tax every few years without an accompanying decrease in sales taxes. Raising taxes is, for the most part, a non-starter in this city.

However, there are still huge benefits to adopting a property tax in place of a sales tax, even if it does not increase revenue.

Benefits for the city:

1) A more predictable revenue base.
2) Lowers the cost of buying goods in the city, which can only encourage more economic activity (I think we can all agree lowering the sales tax won't cause anyone to stop shopping in Mesa or to buy less in Mesa).

Benefits for residents:

1) Real estate investors with no ties to the city will have to do their part to contribute to the city they are making money off of. Currently these investors do not pay primary sales tax to the City of Mesa, but they continue to bring in large sums of money from their activity in Mesa.

2) Local property taxes are deductible on federal income taxes. You cannot deduct sales taxes for 2010 according to the IRS. Even in years where deducting sales taxes was allowed, you had to choose between deducting your sales taxes paid or deducting your state income tax paid. For most of us, income tax was higher. If you were audited, you had better hope you have enough receipts to justify the sales tax deduction you took. What a mess! Property taxes are tracked on a single form which is easy to access and doesn't need to be manually added up.

3) More stable city services as the revenue base from property taxes is less volatile than revenue from sales taxes. This means less worrying about damaging cuts to schools and libraries every few years when another down cycle hits.

It is incredible that the city has failed to pass a primary property tax all of these years. There is a reason Mesa is alone as the largest city in the United States without a primary property tax: conservative and liberal districts across the country both agree that the property tax is a better alternative to straight sales tax. It is time for this city to get real with a proposal for a property tax. Stop trying to secure a property tax without offering us a break somewhere else. The trade-off that makes the most sense is to tie a property tax to a binding decrease the sales tax. Let's get it done...

Check out my website which advocates restructuring the Arizona University System to provide greater accessibility, affordability, and accountability to a public university education for many more Arizonans while breaking-up the ASU monopoly within Greater Phoenix.

My plan does this by merging the ASU West & Polytechnic campuses into an independent, "medium-cost", and moderate research state university that is then housed at the Polytechnic campus location while the West campus then transforms itself into an independent, "low-cost", and non-research state university.

Click on the link below to view my strategic plan for the details of my university system restructuring plan:

http://PSUandAzTech.blogspot.com

South Central Mesa has developed, without any apparent planning, a “barrio” I affectionately call “Mesaco” that is growing to look and feel a lot like a city in Mexico. I believe we need to be proactive in taking advantage of this resource that has grown here and build on it.

For example, we can foster the development of a large, planned Mexican style open air market, create a restaurant/cantina district and develop an industry zone featuring and building on our already present Mexican resources. Special events and educational opportunities can also be fostered and embraced in the district to show our city’s diversity and vision.

We will need the Hispanic community leaders behind this, some good investors and city planning to facilitate such a featured district between light rail and Highway 60. If done correctly, this could become a tourist hotspot, a retail destination and a tax revenue source for the City!

BUT, if we do nothing here, this area will continue to grow and expand on its own into something, in my opinion, into something no one will be able to control, police or desire.

I want to recommend that the City either a., join a barter network, or b., create one of their own.

The reason I thought of this is because I belong to a barter network of over 1,000 business. We barter our products and services on a regular basis. It’s a huge win win for all of us and this is how I think it would benefit the City.

1. The City has available services or products that are not being purchased or used at their maximum capacity i.e., office spaces are not 100% rented in the incubator. So as long as those office spaces remain empty, the city is losing money.

2. The City has products and services they need to buy on a regular basis, but they have limited funds to do so.

3. Why not establish a barter network where the City barters its excess inventory (in this case empty office space) so that they can obtain the products and services they need?

4. The way the system works is not direct barter. Meaning that the City would not rent the office space to a company that they want to trade services with. Instead they rent the office space to any company who needs it. The company then pays in what’s called “Trade credit.” The trade credit accumulates in the city’s trade account. Then they can take that trade credit and use it with any contractor that will accept it.

5. It can be set up so that there is little change in the process the city follows to obtain products and services from outside suppliers. There could still be the competitive bidding process, vetting, selection, etc. The difference is only how the contractors get paid.

6. If you would like more information, I’d be glad to share with you how it works and put you in touch with the CEO of the trade organization that I’m a part of. My thought would be that it would be better for the City to set up their own trade association because it also generates revenue.. There are some administrative fees that members of the network have to pay to be a member.

Let the homeowners have the upper hand for once!!

Look down any main thoroughfare in West Mesa. Individuals who feel no conection or obligation to our communty have created an ugly landscape of apathy and low-brow opportunism.

People everywhere in Mesa are tired of absentee landlords choosing our community for their irresponsible business practices.

1). Empower and train neighborhood volunteers to document offenses with photography (so that it is objective, factual, and available for everyone to see), and help pursue the individual cases to resolution.

2). Create a URL where Mesa residents can see the offenses ( images), and the associated case progress.

Images are much more powerful and speak universally to people.This process could also help create an awareness amongst average Mesa Homeowners about the what/why of code enforcement in their neighborhood, and what is considered acceptable.

Most importantly, it could empower homeowners with the ability to have some control in their neighborhood, instead of being forced into tolerance of decay.

Homeowners are the ones who are paying the bills and maintaining the aging housing stock here in Mesa. The city needs to stick up for them! When the homeowners leave- the neighborhoods will succumb to completely to blight and city will be bankrupt.