E.V. mayors sound alarm over state budget

Three East Valley mayors held a press conference Wednesday in an attempt to raise awareness among residents about the potential impact of the ongoing state budget battle on city finances.

John Insalaco, Apache Junction mayor, said his city had been anticipating the current economic slowdown over the past two years, and the state Legislature's approved budget is placing an unfair burden on local taxpayers.

"I don't need to see them ruin our community or anyone else's community," he said.

The mayors gathered with television and newspaper crews in Gilbert's Freestone Park, which Gilbert Town Manager George Pettit said was built nearly 20 years ago with the same impact fees the cities would be barred from collecting under a three-year ban included in the state budget. The budget has still not been sent to Gov. Jan Brewer for a probable veto.

Gilbert Mayor John Lewis, who had just been inaugurated the night before, spoke without a prepared speech concerning aspects of the budget that would affect town finances. The Legislature also wants to shift vehicle license tax revenues away from municipalities to schools, and also bar sales tax increases for the next three years.

Lewis said the proposed budget could sweep $86 million from Gilbert's water and wastewater facilities over the next three years, and another $48 million from the general fund, which funds most daily operations including public safety.

He said the impact fee ban, intended to revive the homebuilding industry, could force the town to cut back its development services staff "almost to the point that for the next three years nothing could be done."

It's not clear yet whether the sales tax hike ban, if approved, would negate the Gilbert Town Council's recent vote to raise its sales tax by a quarter cent.

Apache Junction would lose $457,000 in vehicle license tax revenues, which could lead to layoffs and pay cuts, as well as cuts to human service and economic development agencies, Insalaco said.

Queen Creek Mayor Art Sanders said his town could have to take some of the most drastic actions, including shutting down the town's new library and several parks, and cutting the number of Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies by 20 percent.

Drastic cuts have already been made over the last two years as the construction industry crashed. "We did everything right, at the right time, and we're still struggling," he said.

The Queen Creek Town Council on Wednesday is slated to consider imposing a "cost of service fee" if the state bars local governments from collecting development impact fees. The fee, which the town would collect prior to issuing a building permit, would run nearly $11,000 for a single-family home, for example, while an office of 10,000 square feet or less would be assessed about $10,600.