Hanlon: Change from sales tax would put burden on Apache Junction property owners

Thank you for inviting our opinions.

I am very opposed to a property tax replacing the sunsetting sales tax and will vote against any council person who votes for one. Failing to continue the sales tax will allow residents who don’t own real estate to use the town’s services without paying anything for the cost of those services. It would be unfair to property owners to put all that burden on them.

Also, your article (“City of Apache Junction may seek vote on first property tax," on the cover of the September 2023 issue) in the newspaper doesn’t tell us whether there would be a sunset date for the proposed property tax. Because you didn’t address this, I assume the property tax would be a permanent tax; is that correct?

Your article also failed to inform us what the average property owner would be paying under the proposed property tax, thus not giving us enough information to give a more informed opinion.

Failing to give information on these two issues gives me the impression that your paper is in favor of the proposed property tax.