Below is the latest report from Gilbert taxpayer activist Anita Christy. To get on her email list, contact her at anitalchristy@cox.net.

So, the Gilbert Town Council has decided to spend $250,000 of the taxpayer’s money so we have “the privilege” of voting for a quarter cent tax increase. Those who think “it won’t hurt business,” or that “it’s only going to cost an average family $100-$200 more per year so no big deal” either don’t understand or refuse to accept basic economics and how this applies in the real world of the private sector.

The most critical reality is what this deepening recession has done to the average Gilbert family. To illustrate, let’s look at Gilbert Family Jones, working in the private sector. Over the last year, they have received a 25-50% reduction in their income. So, they must cut spending to match their income. They terminated cable. They stopped patronizing the nicer local restaurants in favor of XYZ Cafe. They didn’t buy as many Christmas presents at the Gilbert stores, and stopped their local landscaping service. They held off on some household projects, so made no purchases at Ace Hardware. No vacation this year; no new clothes. They couldn’t afford to trade in their old car and are keeping it running. They raised the deductibles on all insurance policies. So far, so good. They haven’t had to dip into their savings. Now, if the Town Council gets its wish, Gilbert Family Jones’s grocery bill will go up “a little,” and the cost of every other purchase will increase “just a little bit.” To ensure they are still making ends meet, what does the Jones Family do? Do they drive to another town to make purchases where the taxes are less? No. They spend less. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Jones stop patronizing their local XYZ Café. Does the Town get more tax money? No. How is XYZ Café faring?

How does the decrease in spending by Gilbert Family Jones, multiplied by many more families just like them, affect business? When families have less money to spend, businesses suffer and then fold, especially businesses that are not providing the essentials. Look at the clear evidence. Take a very hard look at the empty storefronts throughout Gilbert. Each of those storefronts represent the loss of somebody’s life savings. The Town depended on the profits from those private sector businesses. Also, any business that has a commercial lease pays TPT (transaction privilege tax). That’s “sales tax.” An additional tax means their monthly rent went up “a little bit.”

The combination of lowering income, higher taxes, and higher expenses has a domino effect throughout the economy to create a recession.

Add to this the fact that Governor Jan Brewer wants to spend $8.5 million in taxpayer money to give Arizonans “the opportunity” to vote on an increase in sales tax. Do our elected officials see that government revenues go up only when a businesses’ profits go up? Do they imagine that businesses are improving? Do they think our incomes, which depend on profitable businesses, are improving? No, quite the opposite.

So, why can’t these elected officials do the job they were elected to do? Why do they struggle so much “to make ends meet”? I’ll tell you why. It’s because the beneficiaries of those tax increases are beginning to outnumber those who pay the taxes. We may not be facing an immediate crisis but just a slow, remorseless, incremental, unceasing ratchet effect that, in the end, will result in the death of American life as we have known it.

Anita Christy