Pabis and Luoma: Improved parks, better public safety with accountability are good for Scottsdale

The Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce urges you to please vote yes on Proposition 490, the “To Protect and To Preserve Scottsdale” ballot measure. This measure will take the place of an expiring city sales tax at a lower rate to fund improvements and increased maintenance for parks citywide, beginning in the aging Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt. Prop 490 will also fund ongoing care for our McDowell Sonoran Preserve, including wildlife habitat protection. It will give police officers and firefighters the additional resources needed to keep us safe. The benefits to our city are immeasurable.

A safe Scottsdale with quality amenities is also good for business. These investments help attract employers, generate tourism and bring more customers to existing city businesses. This economic activity keeps our quality of life high and our property taxes low. Everyone wins.

Prop 490 has unprecedented legal protections to ensure that the money must be spent solely on the described purposes in the ballot language. It has an accompanying Ordinance which outlines exactly what percentage of the tax revenue will be apportioned to each project. Any future needed changes will require a super majority vote of council. Even then, all that can change are the yearly percentages the parks, Preserve and public safety departments receive. The money cannot be shifted to another department like transportation or the arts. An additional control measure is the ordinance requires that the charters of the residents’ Parks and Recreation Commission and Preserve Commission be amended to make them the citizen oversight body for their portion of the monies. It requires an annual public report to council as well.

The Chamber also asks you to vote yes on Proposition 491, the “Permanent Base Adjustment.” This measure adjusts state spending limits that are nearly two decades old so Scottsdale’s elected leaders can sensibly spend money the city already has.

Michelle Pabis is the chair of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. Eric Luoma is the vice chair of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.