One of the most useful lessons I learned in high school math was: if an answer doesn’t make sense, it’s probably wrong.
APRC’s stated reasons for wanting all of the food and beverage taxes (FBT) for seventeen more years, until 2040, don’t make sense.
The unavoidable conclusion is that APRC’s stated reasons for their desperate attempt to monopolize all of the FBT are wrong.
When reading APRC’s pleas for more of your tax money, keep these points in mind:
APRC claims that it will “free up” money in the general fund, but that is demonstrably false.
APRC says that it needs the money for maintenance, but in the same breath says that it will not increase their funding.
Taxpayers need to ask why APRC’s current $7,821,526 annual general fund budget is not enough to maintain the parks properly.
APRC conveniently doesn’t tell you that they have transferred $435,000 from their capital improvements fund into their operating fund in the last fiscal year, and lesser amounts every year since 2015.
APRC conveniently doesn’t mention that this measure will enshrine the food and beverage tax for SEVENTEEN MORE YEARS.
The reason APRC doesn’t mention the extension of the tax because that is crucial to their plans of using that extra “guaranteed” revenue as collateral for funding for their pet projects.
APRC knows that the taxpayers will never vote to fund a $10,200,000 pool with the city finances stressed as they are, so this is their best hope of getting that project funded without the approval of the voters.
APRC conveniently doesn’t tell you that they will get their operating expenses from a combination of FBT and property taxes in any case. The only reason they want this is to amass a war chest for their $16 million capital improvements wish list.
APRC conveniently doesn’t tell you that the money they are taking from the streets fund will have to be made up by YOU, the taxpayers.
They want this money so that they will have the full 98% to do whatever they want with it. That would include any special interest projects that THREE parks commissioners and FOUR city councilors approve BY THEMSELVES.
There is a good reason that the vast majority of the spin from the APRC is that “parks are wonderful”, “parks build community”, and “we love our parks. That reason is that they have absolutely no logical reasons for wanting this measure to pass—at least none that they are willing to admit to the taxpayers.
This is nothing less than a cynical money grab, cleverly designed to fool the voters.
This is a trojan horse.
They are using this dishonest, backdoor approach to get funds for MORE capital improvements–whatever they want– WITHOUT the approval of the voters, while pretending it is for operating expenses.
Don’t Be Fooled!
It’s your money, your choice, your vote.
Get the facts at www.saveourparks-ashland.org
