Page 46 August 2013 By Sal DiCiccio Let me outline why I care so much about fi scal accountability and why eliminating the food tax is part of a bigger picture. The Food Tax for Pay Raise scheme is wrong and must end. The council will be revisiting the issue in September for a possible October vote. $137 million in pay raises were doled out since the food tax was forced on the public. According to staff, 350 police of fi cers could have been hired with just the pay raises in the 2013 budget alone. It’s not fair to hardworking taxpayers, and they deserve better. Eliminating the food tax is important, but is part of a bigger plan getting our city ready to compete in a global market. My four-part plan is about reforms focused on job creation, fi scal accountability and preparing Phoenix for the new economy. Fiscal accountability reform Working with Councilmen Bill Gates and Jim Waring, we stopped water/ sewer increase two years in a row and no property tax rate or fee increases in more than three years. But it’s more than just saying no. Government by nature is a monopoly with little concern for the price of services and cost of goods resulting in lower productivity and ef fi ciency. Stopping tax and fee increases changed our culture and how we operate. Phoenix is now more ef fi cient, productive and more sensitive to the cost of goods we purchase. Raising taxes and fees (water, sewer, property tax and fee increases) is no longer the fi rst choice. The food tax is next. These reforms forced us to look internally for ef fi ciencies, which cut more than $79 million in government waste. Job creation reform Working with Councilmen Tom ESTATE PLANNING PROBATE TRUST ADMINISTRATION BANKRUPTCY ESTATE LITIGATION ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING ELDER LAW QDRO’S Call Today for your FREE CONSULTATION 6FRWWVGDOH2I¿ FH (Bell Rd & 101 Fwy) 3KRHQL[2I¿ FH WK6W )Z\ ZZZ'DQD)LUPFRP Affordable Professional Convenient (480) 924-4424 Matthew S. Dana -'//0&3$&/8&K)& 9,000 - 1XPEHURI&OLHQWV 1984 - <HDUV(VWDEOLVKHG 57 - &ROOHFWLYH<HDUVRI([SHULHQFH 11 - $WWRUQH\V 8 - 9DOOH\/RFDWLRQV 1 - 3UDFWLFH$UHD Estate Planning by the Numbers: Downtown’s Premier High-Rise Cool Ocean & Bay Breezes, relax, refresh, recharge! Hot Gaslamp Nights, reinvent, redefine, rejoice! Walk to Horton Plaza, Petco Park, Convention Center, Cruise ships. 5 minutes to airport, 10 minutes to Coronado. Monica Ball 619.708.3512 Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty 2850 Womble Road, Suite 102 San Diego, CA 92106 NCSFBMFTUBUF!DPYOFUtXXXNPOJDBCBMMDPNt%3& #2504 at $1,400,000 t www.700FrontStreet2504.com Lovely Deco style 2500 sq ft home 2/2, classic urban living #2203 at $3,950,000 t www.Meridian2203.com Luxuriously spacious 5050 sq ft of elegance 4/5, all water views, amazing value Passionate mother. Passionate exerciser. Passionate writer. For most of her life, Barbara Dean defined herself as a devoted wife, loving mother of three, devout reader of romance novels — until the day she decided she could write one better. Her first romance novel, Hilltop House, came out the week she moved here. She’s now something of a fitness buff, working out five days a week (proudly achieving ‘Boot Camp’ level). She attends brain and nutrition classes, too, and says she’s never felt better. Barbara is a Terraces kind of person. Are you? Call us at 1-888-817-9169 or come by — and meet folks like Barbara Dean. You might discover The Terraces is the perfect fit for you. 7550 North 16th Street | Phoenix, AZ 85020 | www.theterracesphoenix.com The Terraces of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona, is managed by ABHOW, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation. ABHOW is a nonsectarian corporation, serving seniors through quality retirement housing since 1949. Now that’s a Terraces kind of person. Simplot, Michael Nowakowski and Thelda Williams, we streamlined and cut red tape making Phoenix the best in the nation to start and expand a business. The model I helped create starts jobs today. Other national competitive cities still take months. Our model gets permits out in a day or less, a 24-hour turn around for inspections and gets site plans approved in one, fi ve and 21 days depending on the complexity. It treats all business the same. The result? People get hired today, money gets circulated in our economy faster and people are less dependent on government for survival. The picture again is bigger. To thrive in this global economy and compete in this global market we must be faster, smarter and better than our competitors around the world. Transparency reform Working with Councilwoman Williams, we created the fi rst zero-based budget. The great recession taught us we must be better prepared for future crises. Phoenix is the fi rst in the nation to adopt a budgeting process allowing us to see future economic problems on the horizon. Reform of all operations We have made signi fi cant strides preparing us for the new economy, but we must do better. The last reform is the reform of everything we do. We are only as good as our weakest link. Every time we pick up the phone and every operation we perform must be completed with the goal of being the best. Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio represents District 6. He can be reached at 602-262-7491. Food tax elimination just a part of overall picture
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