A recent visitor to a study session of the Chandler City Council didn’t bring much good news.
Chris Camacho is the president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. He told the council there are major challenge areas for the 22 municipalities GPEC serves: climate, water and heat.
“With the energy grid, I think most of the moves we see made are going to be about risk aversion,” Camacho said. “And in about 95% of media interviews I’ve done within the past year, I’ve been asked about water, in some capacity.”
Camacho said it will remain critical to keep educating cities and the public about water issues. He said he anticipates one or two more prime-rate increases from the Federal Reserve in the months ahead.
Since GPEC gets 66% of its operating revenue from private business donations now, the organization can better cater to the needs of the private sector and can advocate at the state level for policies that are business-friendly.
Camacho said he’s watching the transportation tax debate closely, as are all or most of GPEC’s 22 member municipalities. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill last year that would have allowed Maricopa County to put a referendum on the November 2022 ballot to renew a transportation tax.
“The loop (freeway) system that connects our economy, especially industry, was built and maintained on the Prop 400 system,” Camacho said.
Camacho also said member municipalities do $18 billion annually in trade with Mexico. This places heavy importance on Gov. Katie Hobbs’ relationship and agreements with the Mexican government.
Camacho took a few questions, but his presentation was brief. He said he’s heard rumblings from the Hobbs camp about possible tax credits, of some type, for implementing more housing, especially of the multi-family type.
“We need to make sure multi-family housing isn’t a dirty word,” Camacho said. “It needs to be in play, somewhere, in nearly all municipalities.”
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