Thursday, February 4, 2010

AFP: Hold Onto Your Wallet- The Tax Man is Coming!

ACTION ALERT for all Arizona Taxpayers and Tea Partiers:
BANKRUPT STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE MOVING QUICKLY TO RAISE YOUR TAXES
We must TAKE ACTION NOW to stop huge tax increases.
(City of Phoenix Grocery Tax info at bottom.)
A majority in the Arizona Senate voted yesterday to send the governor’s billion-dollar sales tax increase (the “Brewer Tax”) to the May 18 ballot.
Corporate-welfare interests are now teaming up with government employee unions to pressure members of the Arizona House of Representatives. A vote could happen as soon as TODAY. Thanks mainly to grassroots pressure, they couldn’t get a Republican majority to refer the tax last year, but they are now forming a new majority composed of Democrats and renegade Republicans.
Here is a list of the Senators who voted for and against the tax hike yesterday: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PoliticalInsider/73032


Your legislators may tell you they merely voted to “let the voters decide” whether to increase the sales tax rate by 18 PERCENT. But you have watched local government, so you know how the game is played. When tax hikes are on the ballot, the corporate-welfare interest groups (such as “Building a Better Arizona”) and the government employee unions dump millions of dollars into buying radio, newspaper, e-mail, telephone and ground-mail advertisements. They spend big money to fool the public into believing that they need tax increases to continue providing “vital government services.” Far too often, they are successful.
Please click here to take action.
Governor Brewer has already succeeded in raising your property taxes. Combined with the proposed sales tax hike, the effect would be to raise the average Arizona household’s taxes by $1,200 over the next three years. The new tax hike would go into effect at the worst possible time: during a recession, when families and businesses are suffering. Arizona does NOT need a tax increase to get through the current budget deficit crisis. The crisis was caused by spending too much money during the boom, and hiring too many government employees. The proper solution is to cut spending: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/files/azbudgetoptions121509.pdf
Please CONTACT HOUSE MEMBERS TODAY and let them know that if the Brewer Tax passes on the May 18 ballot, you will hold them personally accountable.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
A majority on the Phoenix City Council just voted to put a TWO-CENT TAX ON GROCERIES (in the middle of a recession). The Arizona Republic’s story repeated city propaganda, saying that the council was “desperate to save police, fire and other city jobs.” But the truth is that the City does NOT need to cut police and fire to balance its budget. It needs to cut the “other city jobs,” eliminate non-essential services, and use public-private partnerships to operate and maintain assets such as city parks.
If you are the average Phoenix taxpayer, the City is going to tax your groceries to support city employees who make a LOT more than you do. Councilman Sal DiCiccio (who voted against the tax hike) reports that “the average cost for all city employees is $100,000, including all benefits. That includes all employees--clerks to managers.” DiCiccio points out that the average private sector total compensation in the Phoenix-Mesa area, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is $54,100—which is about half the average for City of Phoenix employees. “For an enterprise the size of Phoenix,” DiCiccio concludes, “with about 14,000 workers, that’s simply unsustainable, which is why we need to look to the private sector to perform some functions less expensively.”
Please make calls and send emails thanking the Good Guys for voting NO:
Sal DiCiccio, council.district.6@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7491
Bill Gates, council.district.3@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7441
Peggy Neely, council.district.2@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7445
Please make calls and send emails to the Bad Guys, letting them know you are not pleased with their YES votes to raise your taxes:
Mayor Phil Gordon, mayor.gordon@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7111
Michael Johnson, council.district.8@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7493
Claude Mattox, council.district.5@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7446
Michael Nowakowski, council.district.7@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7492
Tom Simplot, council.district.4@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7447
Thelda Williams, council.district.1@phoenix.gov (602) 262-7444
To be put in contact with anti-tax activists in other Arizona cities and towns, contact Tom Jenney at tjenney@afphq.org.
 
 
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
( Arizona Federation of Taxpayers)
www.aztaxpayers.org
tjenney@afphq.org
(602) 478-0146

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