Written by Greta HylandAs I sat through the first St. George State of the City address and listened to Mayor Pike, the chicken and the egg conundrum kept coming to mind: what came first, taxes or public works? Pike seemed to walk a delicate balance between the need for money (read: taxes) and the desire to give people what they want. In a nutshell, it seemed to me that Pike was very politely trying to tell everyone that money does not grow on trees. We all know this of course, but somehow fiscal conservatives have got politicians shaking in their boots over it.
I’ve got news for fiscal conservatives: we all want the government to spend money wisely. Conservatives do not have the corner on the market when it comes to being frugal, just look at military spending if you don’t believe me. Conservatives are just as reckless with money as liberals when it comes to their own pet projects. They get fiscally conservative when it comes to paying for others’ pet projects. But let’s be honest, Americans are not the epitome of thrift either. In fact, our government may be more fiscally responsible than we are, just look around at our consumption and tell me we are any better.
We don’t like having any amount taken out of our paychecks, so when the government gets some of our hard earned money that we can’t spend on electronics, clothing, or cars, they damn well better be responsible with it right? Right.
But we can’t get new roads, new parks, trail maintenance, water, plumbing, annual races like the Ironman, or anything else without paying for it. It costs money to manage a city, a state, and a nation. Death and taxes as they say.
So – I am with the Mayor.
I get it.
There are lots of things we want here in St. George, and we are trying to get them via taxes, grants, subsidies, and fundraising, and by all appearances, it looks like city is doing a good job at trying to strike that balance.
Through federal subsidies the city has provided public transportation, which the mayor said would be impossible to have without federal help. Makes sense to me. It also appears to be growing. A new route was added out to Ivins and there is talk of extending one out to Washington as well. Increased bus routes and Suntran buses, bike paths and trails, etc., are a step in the right direction. Having the city trail-blaze on issues of sustainability and stewardship is key to getting residents to do the same.
The city is also in the process of inspecting city buildings that will be retrofitted to be energy efficient. That is not just smart, but makes sense from a fiscal standpoint because again, it saves taxpayers dollars. I am still waiting on solar power to be used aggressively in the city, but perhaps that will come with time.
The RAP tax is another smart move, bringing in revenue from all the people who come here to visit, use our roads and facilities, and leave. That takes a bit of the burden off of the residents while fueling the economy; to the tune of roughly an extra $1.3 million annually. Taxes aren’t so bad when someone else is paying – or at least pitching in.
Piggybacking on that, according to Pike, the city hosted some sort of public event 46 of the 52 weeks last year. That’s astounding! When I heard that all I could think was, “Well done!” While obviously costing money to host, those events bring in money as well, showing yet another way the City is looking for revenue outside of taxes while taking advantage of the nice year-round weather and geography to do it.
Having said all that, there were some things that I found, let’s say, interesting about the Mayor’s address. While Pike was talking to business owners, it was clear to me that like a business needs customers, so does the city, because without the customers, the dollars either stagnate or dry up (there’s that chicken and the egg thing again).
Yep, I’m talking about growth, and when I say customers I mean development and population.
One of the first things the Mayor said was that he has tried “no growth,” referring to the Great Recession in 2009, and he doesn’t like it. At first I thought he was taking a stab at people who want to control growth, and maybe he was, but as I looked around the room, it occurred to me that he was speaking the language of business owners – business owners who want more customers and more dollars, i.e., growth.
Of course they want more growth! We were at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon after all. But the funny thing was that everything Pike talked about thereafter stemmed from growth, the two biggest being water and roads.
Pike said, “We’re always thinking about water. Water and transportation are our top two.”
The Mayor didn’t elaborate on the future of water, but just made mention of some water projects that had been completed in 2014. Considering how much he expounded on roads, I found that a little odd. Perhaps that is because to raise the issue of limited water is to shine a light on the dark side of growth.
More tax dollars will not bring more water. To grow beyond the natural limits of your water budget is living beyond your means. Whether you want growth or not, you can only grow as big as the amount of resources you have. It’s kind of like buying a house. You may want a mansion, but if you only make $40K a year, it’s probably not going to happen; even if you subscribe to the tenets of The Secret.
You may think that being fiscally conservative doesn’t apply to water, but I disagree. You may think that worrying about water is just for tree-huggers, but you would be wrong. Worrying about water is also for mayors, city council members, water managers, and yes, you too, the citizens. And if getting a tan in February is any indicator, this year is going to be a doozy for drought plagued states like Utah. I predict there will be A LOT of worrying going on this year. The two biggest issues in St. George may become water and water.
When I heard the Mayor say that they are always thinking about water I couldn’t help thinking of the water workshop held last fall with Tom Ash, one of the leading experts in managing water. It was a workshop that almost every city and county official was invited to. Unfortunately Mayor Pike and his city council, the water district, and just about everyone who deals with water policy in the area chose not to attend because they didn’t want to look like they agreed with Citizens for Dixie’s Future, the local environmental non-profit opposed to the Lake Powell Pipeline. You know what they say about words and actions. Funny enough, however, irrigation companies showed up.
Pike listed partnerships with community organizations as one of the city’s goals. I wonder if that includes the unsavory ones like environmental organizations, or if they will only partner up with arts, business, education, or recreational organizations. It seems to me that without water none of those other things will matter. If water is one of the two biggest issues facing St. George, number three might be those who manage it. Death and taxes.
This leads me to the second issue: roads. Apparently all of the fuel efficient cars are putting a dent in government budgets. So while you might be saving money driving around in your Prius, the government’s gas tax revenues are dwindling. To all of you who are still driving gas guzzlers, the government thanks you. You are a true patriot.
Okay, all sarcasm aside, this is real. Not only have people jumped ship for fuel efficient cars, the price of gas has fallen (at least temporarily), and Utah is freaking out. This is causing a transportation crisis here of ebola proportions. Right now the Utah legislature is debating whether to raise taxes on gas, up to ten cents last I heard, and their reasoning is that the taxes have not kept up with inflation (This is code for: This is why it’s okay).
While I don’t mind paying taxes for roads – I do use them after all – this proposed tax increase bothers me. It bothers me because Utah politicians want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to fly the “fiscal conservative” flag about rising gas prices when they want to condemn the President, but when they lose those tax revenues when gas prices drop, they then want to talk “inflation” and “roads.” The double-speak is unbelievable. Furthermore, what really irks me about this is that it looks like dolling out a penalty for good behavior.
But beyond that, it bothers me because I know that Utah cannot manage public land without drilling a lot, charging a lot, and without taxing a lot. In fact, gas development, robust gas prices, and taxes are about the only way the state could manage public land. I am not saying there is something under-handed at play here, only mentioning it as a convenient reason to set something up for the future.
So basically, because we have all wizened up and started driving smarter cars we are now going to get penalized via higher gas taxes. Does that sound right to you? Yes, we all use the roads and need to pay for that use, but the market determines gas prices and subsequently, tax revenues. The drop in gas prices just looks like an opportunity the Utah legislature is using to take advantage of to keep the dollars flowing in.
But beyond that, the roads all take us back to growth.
More growth means more roads and more use, which theoretically means more tax revenues, but there again is the conundrum. Bursting cities need new roads for the new people and new developments. They need road widening, road maintenance, and transportation corridors, etc., because of the increased amount of traffic and users due to growth (chicken and the egg).
So while we may not want “no growth” it might be wise to consider controlled growth, especially if we don’t have the money for it. I agree with Mayor Pike that we want healthy and steady growth, but an honest allocation of our resources, both natural and financial, seems prudent when looking toward the future. And we need to hear about them as candidly as we do about other issues.
Overall I was impressed with the Mayor’s address. I thought what he talked about was reasonable, and while I take issue with the merry-go-round approach to water and growth, I think the City is doing a phenomenal job. Pike also did a pretty good job at addressing the perplexing problem of taxes and public works and explaining the need for both. It’s important for people to understand how these two things go hand-in-hand in order to be better informed on issues that will impact their quality of life and their pocketbook. Rarely does a person mind chipping in when they understand where their money is going.
Bottoms up! To death and taxes. Cheers.
Related Story: State of the City: Local government is where the rubber meets the road
Greta Hyland has a Masters degree in Environmental Policy & Management and has worked for the BLM and the NPS as well as for non-profit organizations. She is a regular contributor to the Utah Adventure Journal and is the Copy Editor at the Independent. She writes regularly on her blog about environmental policy issues affecting the southwest, as well as personal narratives about outdoor recreation and simple living. Her blog can be found at www.thesouthwestjournal.wordpress.com A Utah native, Greta is a consummate desert rat and loves exploring the southwest. She can be reached at [email protected]
