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The recent move by Navajo County to reintroduce the one-third of a cent jail district tax, now known as Proposition 421, to the voters in August, has caused Tom Poscharsky, former councilman and mayor of Snowflake, to question the wisdom in giving politicians what he considers a “windfall”.
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Addressing his concerns to the county, Poscharsky sent an email to the Board of Supervisors in March, stating, “People were not confused last year when the Jail District Proposal was voted down. The county spent a lot of time and effort trying to convince the electorate to approve the Jail District Tax and it failed despite no organized opposition.”
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In his email, Poscharsky continued, “The Jail District would be a windfall to the county of nearly $4 million per year to start, escalating with inflation over 20 years. Sales taxes are regressive taxes affecting the lower income earners more than the wealthy.”
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Poscharsky also noted that the State of Arizona is considering the addition of a one cent state-wide sales tax for education this year. “If both pass, this will amount to a 16.5 percent increase in sales taxes in the county starting in 2020.”
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A recent survey by the Tax Foundation of 50 states reported that Arizona ranked 24th in the nation, collecting $936 per resident in sales taxes last year. The additional tax proposed by the state and county would push Arizona to a ranking of 13th with the taxes rising to $1,090 per resident.
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Later in an interview, Poscharsky said, “There are two main principals that make America work: economic incentives within the open market place and having to live within a budget. When you have a windfall, it is just human nature to increase your spending and not necessarily wisely and judiciously.
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“It is critical that the budget be justified,” continued Poscharsky, “Because the county will spend it by increasing salaries and their own compensation to the supervisors. I am all in favor of them working on a budget and maybe even getting an independent outside consultant to bless what increases they need.”
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Poscharsky believes the current financial emergency is at least partially self-inflicted. “The supervisors chose not to raise property taxes and risk their elected positions.”
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Within that, Poscharsky believes the solution to the current situation is to raise property taxes, “My solution is to come in with a percentage property tax increase that is justifiable to the electorate and shows wise choices and thriftiness. Get a citizen’s committee to approve it and then have the committee help support getting the tax increase they need only for the amount required.
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“One big problem with county government,” continued Poscharsky, “is that you have all these small elected fiefdoms: the treasurer, the assessor, the recorder, the clerk, the sheriff, the county attorney; all under a county manager, and all fighting for their fiefdom.”
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It was during his time on the Snowflake Town Council as councilman and later mayor from 2010 – 2016, that Poscharsky remembers the county beginning to charge jail fees to all of the cities and towns.
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Pointing out the recent push by the Arizona Corporate Commission for more biomass and renewables, Poscharsky noted, “We don’t know what the offsets will be. We don’t know what will happen with the Cholla Power Plant.
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“Some of the things that make America really great is the ability to wisely allocate the money among the departments and to prove it is justifiable and reasonable,” concluded Poscharsky. “With all the automations and efficiencies that are now available, you can have one person doing more than one job. Why would anyone vote to give the county that money for 20 years? How will you get rid of it at the end of 20 years, once they have built it into their budget? Do you trust them to wisely spend a windfall pot of money? Just say ‘No’ again. Let them work for our approval of what is needed by the citizens of the county.”
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