Protest Against Rental Homes Taxes
The City Council’s budget hearing in Tucson, Arizona was well-attended. Even before the meeting on Tuesday started, the 500 seats were already full. Other 200 people were gathered around the hall, around the walls, and in the lobby of the Tucson Convention Center. All of them wanted to have a say on the issues governing rental homes in their city.
Those people went to the venue to voice their protest against the $17.4 million worth of new and increased taxes in the budget of the city, for the coming fiscal year that is about to start on July 1. Out of this amount, around $10 million is expected to come from rental home fees and taxes.
Around one third of the crown present in the city budget hearing wore red. This was to make a statement against the proposals that would soon increase fees on rental homes. Some members of the crowd are actually part of the Tucson Tea Party, a group that rallied 3,000 people last month to protest about taxes. Others who were in the crowd supported the coalition of housing organizations in the city. They argue that the higher taxes on rental homes would affect the poor people in the area, at this time when finances are very difficult to cope with.
Protesters told their stories about how they were affected by expensive rents. According to Trent Humphries, one of the organizers of the Tucson Tea Party, none of the new and increased taxes would solve the current financial situation of the city. He further adds that the government would just want slush funds. The real solution is to cut down on expenses, and not to ask for more money.
Some other speakers in the city budget hearing even asked for the council to match whatever sacrifice they are asking of the citizens. The concern is increasing, both for renters as well as for owners of rental homes. They see that with higher taxes, they would not be able to pass the burden to their renters, and so would have to pay them themselves.
According to Silvia Amparano, the City Finance Director, the enforcement of this new budget would match those of business which actually pay sales taxes. Under this new rules, owners of rental homes who have few properties are the ones who are most likely to evade taxes, since they are the ones who are least seen.
