CONSTITUTIONALGOV.NET

Yesterday, the voters of Arizona were asked to determine whether or not to increase their own taxes (a one cent “temporary” sales tax increase for three years) to bailout the Arizona State government’s irresponsible mismanagement of their tax dollars and fill a one billion dollar budget deficit.  It wasn’t bad enough that the State took the prosperous times in the middle of the last decade and did nothing to ensure that they would have money during leaner economic times, but they had the audacity to support this tax increase watching special interest groups and unions pour 2 million dollars in advertising to shame Arizona voters into voting themselves a tax increase by claiming if we didn’t do it that schools and public safety would be irreparably harmed.  The Arizona voter was made to feel that they would be a callous, insensitive, inhumane, completely selfish citizen if they dare vote not to increase their own taxes.

I’ve shared my story with many, but let me briefly share it with you again, so you can see what this new tax symbolizes to me, and the action I plan to take as a result of this tax.  In the end, it now all comes down to economics for me.  In January of 2008, I was laid off from my job.  Having paid into the unemployment insurance system for more than 25 years, I could feel good about applying for and taking unemployment benefits.  I didn’t do that.  I never took a dime in unemployment benefits.  Why?  Not because I immediately found a job for I saw the writing on the wall in early 2008 that jobs would be scarce, and it would be difficult to find a job making enough money to support my monthly expenses.  Instead of applying for unemployment benefits, I immediately started a business.  For the first eighteen months, even in the best months of income for my business, I made a mere 25% of what I needed to pay my monthly personal expenditures (not including business expenditures).  I took out a personal loan to make ends meet for 6 months.  I traded in my car and reduced my monthly car payment by 30%.  I poured through the meager savings that I had, and then I turned to my retirement savings and poured through 75% of that.  Finally, in January of 2010, my business began to make enough money to support my monthly personal obligations.  In other words, today I am breaking even.  During the entire two years where I was upside down month after month after month, I paid for my own healthcare first through the exorbitant costs of COBRA and later by procuring my own personal health insurance policy.  Not once in those two years of scraping by day after day did I take any money from the government.  Not once in those two years did I take any money from my family.  Not once in those two years was I late with any payment for any of my obligations including my mortgage, my car payment, my personal loan, my credit card, my utility bills, etc.

I purchased my home in January of 2006 at the height of prices for homes in the housing boom.  Today my home is worth half what I paid for it.  Over the past 2 ½ years, I have often thought of the economic impact to myself of having a home that I owe twice what it is worth, and I have thought of simply walking away from it either through a short sale or bankruptcy.  The sole reason I have not pursued either of those is because I knew I was buying at the height of the market, and I signed a contract.  As long as I could afford it, I felt that I must meet my obligation that I knowingly and willingly signed into.  To add insult to injury, in 2009, the State of Arizona increased the property taxes for Arizona homeowners by 25%.  Even though my home is worth ½ what I paid for it, I now am further insulted by the State by having to pay just as much in property taxes instead of my property taxes being lowered as a result of the devaluation of my home.  The final straw came yesterday.  After the passage of AZ Proposition 100 (the one cent sales tax increase), I’m not so sure I’m going to continue pursuing a life of personal responsibility when 2/3 of Arizona voters feel it’s perfectly fine to take more of my money.  You see, when you don’t hold our elected officials accountable for their gross mismanagement of our money, and you simply let them off the hook by giving them more money, an additional expense that I simply can’t afford right now, I’m finding it hard to continue to hold myself personally accountable by continuing to meet my personal obligations when doing so certainly is no longer in my best economic interest.

The passage of Prop 100 represents the last straw for me.  On Easter of this year, I went over to my sister’s house.  What did I find in her front yard that day? a Yes on Prop 100 sign.  When I asked my sister and brother-in-law why they were supporting Prop 100, they said so their two sons’ (who are attending Northern Arizona University) tuition would not increase.  You see it never dawned on them that their sons, my nephews, could maybe work over the summer to make up the tuition increase.  It never dawned on them that maybe someone like me who has struggled mightily to make ends meet over the past two years, simply doesn’t have the money to help keep tuition from increasing at NAU.  Selfishness pure and simple, but not on my part, on the part of my family that thinks my taxes should rise just so her family doesn’t have to pay another $500 or so a year per kid to send their children to college.  I’m sorry but in an economic crisis, we all have to sacrifice, and I’m tired of sacrificing while others simply will not.

So you can thank the passage of Proposition 100 for the following decision that I have made.  I’m going to short sell my house and get out from under this economic burden.  I’ve been personally responsible in the past, but no more.  I’m tired, and I’m done.  I’m going to move out the State of Arizona.  You see, when I built my business, I built a business that can go anywhere.  I’m not tied to Arizona for my business.  I have customers all over the country.  I’m going to go find the least taxed State, the most business friendly State that I can find, and move myself and my business to it.  Arizona voters, you may have voted to increase the sales tax by one cent yesterday, but you certainly will not be getting another penny from me.