For The Best Scottsdale
Scottsdale voters have not approved a major bond program since 2000. Nineteen years is a long time and has left our city with infrastructure that needs to be repaired and community gems in need of improvements.
We have an opportunity to do both on November 5th with Questions 1, 2 and 3.
That is why as a longtime Scottsdale resident and community advocate, I am a strong supporter for all three questions.
The plan is great for north Scottsdale where I live (and the rest of our city). It will not result in a net increase in secondary property taxes, according to the City Treasurer.
In the northern part of our city, the infrastructure investments will build new fire stations at the Hayden Road and the Loop 101 as well as at Via Linda and 90th Street. The Foothills and Via Linda police stations will get needed renovations. Questions 1, 2 and 3 will also:
– Build a new 17-acre park in the Whisper Rock area at Ashler Hills Drive and 64th Way
– Construct at a new dog park at Thompson Peak Park
– Add hiking trials at Pinnacle Peak Park and add more parking and restrooms at the popular recreation area
– Build a new bridge on Thompson Peak Parkway over the Reata Pass Wash to improve safety during floods and monsoon storms
Appaloosa Library will also see its solar energy production doubled and WestWorld of Scottsdale gets needed repairs and upgrades so it can keep hosting and attract even more equestrian, community and other events. Thirteen new youth sports fields will be built near WestWorld to help ease waiting lists and backlogs for space seen by youth sports teams and leagues. The new fields will also allow parents and grandparents to watch their kids and grandkids games closer to home.
Questions 1, 2 and 3 repair infrastructure and make important investments in all parts of Scottsdale that will benefit and enhance our quality of life and prosperity. All 58 projects totaling $319 million can be viewed here: https://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/elections/bond-2019-project-list.
Many of the 58 projects in the three bond questions will not get done at all without voters’ approval. The bonds also make smart financial sense for Scottsdale’s taxpayers. The secondary property taxes that fund the city bonds are also expected to go down even if all three questions pass, according to the City Treasurer’s Office. That is because of the retirement of existing bonds and the rise in Scottsdale’s property values.
It is not just the northern part of our great city that benefits from the bonds. Scottsdale voters have the opportunity on Election Day to invest in needed improvements at the Cactus and Eldorado pools, McCormick-Stillman Railroad, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and training facilities for our first responders.
Scottsdale is a wonderful place to live. We just need to keep investing in our current and future quality of life. Questions 1, 2 and 3 do that.
Tom Thompson is president of The Golf Villas at Troon North Association, serves on the Troon North Homeowners Association board and is a longtime Scottsdale resident and community leader.