Allen's Blog
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Fountain Hills Voters Want Accountability Not More Reckless Spending And Tax Hikes
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · November 30, 2023 8:41 AM · 1 reaction
By Allen Skillicorn, Fountain Hills Town Councilman
On November 7th, Maricopa County voters were inundated with 23 different school ballot initiatives asking taxpayers to either approve bonding requests or to approve budget overrides for operational expenses.
Of the 18 bond requests on the ballot, twelve were approved. Here locally, voters in Fountain Hills resoundingly rejected a $25 million school bond which would have raised taxes and cost taxpayers as much as $20 million in interest. More than 57 percent of voters said, “NO” to higher taxes.
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Fountain Hills Unified School District Can't Account for Millions of Dollars
Posted by Joseph Chaplik · September 26, 2023 11:01 AM · 1 reaction
From State Representative Joseph Chaplik:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fountain Hills Unified School District Can't Account for Millions of DollarsIn May of this year, the Arizona Auditor General reported the Fountain Hills Unified School District is NOT in compliance with financial reporting requirements. Their 2022 audit shows more than 50 individual deficiencies!
Click here for AZ Auditor General Reports
The district had more than $2.8 million in bookkeeping errors. Their balance sheets do not reconcile. Assets are simply missing. The district lacks documentation for background investigations and fingerprint clearance cards.
The audit found a 100% failure rate to properly secure written quotes for certain contracts. There is a lack of due diligence and documentation on cooperative purchase contracts. There was a violation of Conflict of Interest laws resulting in the district doing business with a vendor where a district employee had a substantial interest in the business.
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Repeal The Regressive Rental Tax NOW!
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · September 07, 2023 11:18 AM · 1 reaction
The State of Arizona has made the collection of sales tax on long-term housing illegal with a new law that takes effect in January of 2025.
The idea that communities would tax housing is absurd and it is a tax that has long needed to be abolished. The elimination of the tax will have an impact on Fountain Hills’ bottom line but instead of wringing our hands, we should be looking at ways to get ahead of surrounding communities.
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Now Is NOT The Time For a $48 Million Tax Hike!
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · August 16, 2023 11:20 AM · 1 reaction
If you knew the proposed $25 million bond for school construction would cost as much as $29 million in interest, would you still support it?
Every dollar spent to pay down the debt means spending at least another dollar on interest. In other words, taxpayers will spend $50 million to get $25 million for our kids thanks to Bidenonmics, which has created a 22-year high interest rates.
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Fountain Hills Check Register 7/12/2023
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · July 23, 2023 5:42 PM
I have been asking staff for the Fountain Hills town check register for months and finally this week this was sent to all council members. The total for this check run was $1,264,622.86.
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Eight People Request Opening Invocation
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · July 20, 2023 1:55 PM
In January the Town Council reinstated the opening prayer with a four to three vote. Read more about it here.
Way back in 2020 Mayor Dickey eliminated the Invocation/Prayer at the beginning of each Town Meeting without a vote.
Last month Mayor Dickey changed the procedure for selecting the person doing the invocation, again without a vote.
Notice a trend?
Out of curiosity and to promote much needed transparency, I submitted a Freedom of Information Request for who requested to do the invocation. Eight people responded and here they are:
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FHUSD Not in compliance with the Uniform System of Financial Records
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · May 26, 2023 1:20 PM · 1 reaction
FHUSD Board Member Madicyn Reid had taken lots of criticism from establishment politicians and bureaucrats for requesting the district obtain three written quotes on purchases.It seems some owe her an apology.The district just received their results from the Arizona Auditor Generals audit for the year ended June 30, 2022. One of the deficiencies listed was not obtaining 3 written quotes.
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Local Meet & Greet Townhall with Rep. Alex Kolodin and Allen Skillicorn
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · May 26, 2023 12:21 PM · 1 reaction
AZ Rescue Mission w/ Rep. Alex Kolodin & Councilman Allen Skillicorn 6.3.23
Arizona State House Representative Alex Kolodin, Fountain Hills Councilman Allen Skillicorn and Grassroots Leader Merissa Hamilton updates us on what's going on in the political landscape & how we can make a difference!
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Yes, No Tax Increase Bonds Increase Your Taxes
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · May 22, 2023 8:18 AM · 1 reaction
By
Its spring election season and across the country citizens will be heading to the polls to vote in municipal elections. In my community, in addition to trying to narrow down a field of mayoral candidates and electing school board members, we will also vote on what is being billed as a “no tax increase bond” issuance for our local school district.
Like many terms in politics, putting “no tax increase” in front of “bonds” is supposed to blunt the opposition to new taxes. But let’s be clear, there is no special category of bonds that school districts issue that doesn’t increase your taxes. No tax increase bonds increase your taxes.
How? School districts regularly issue bonds to finance capital improvements like building new buildings or renovating existing infrastructure. Taxpayers pay off those bonds over time, usually via an increase to their property taxes. Bonds are issued for a specific period, and when they are paid off, taxpayers tax bills go down.
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Fountain Hills Needs Roads Not Unused Exercise Equipment & Umbrellas
Posted by Allen Skillicorn · May 21, 2023 5:54 PM
The words accountability and transparency are frequently used by politicians when campaigning but when it comes to governing, what do these words actually mean?
In practical terms accountability and transparency at the local level means safeguarding taxpayer money and making responsible choices. We cannot control how money is spent at the state and federal level because we can only vote for our local representatives, but at the local government level, we as voters have a direct say in who represents us on our town council.
