Prop 204 will hurt people, businesses

Vote no on Prop 204 that would allow a permanent additional 1-cent state sales tax. It is intended to replace Prop 100, which was meant to be a temporary sales tax increase to get Arizona through a tough economic time and to balance the budget. It did that.

Arizona now has upwards of a billion-dollar surplus and no longer needs the second-highest sales tax rate in the nation (only Tennessee is higher but it has no income tax). Currently, Phoenix has a 9.3 percent sales tax rate, and some cities in Arizona have over 10 percent rates! We all want the economy to get better and stronger. High sales tax rates have a strong negative impact on businesses as people will take their retail money to the Internet, leaving local businesses holding the “out of business” sign.

Prop 100 was temporary but Prop 204 is permanent and will cost every Arizonan hundreds of dollars a year in taxes. If Prop 204 passes, it will never be repealed, and Arizonans will have to live with the consequences for generations. As a 25-year Arizona resident, I respectfully ask all Arizonans to vote no on Prop 204.

Troy Forbus

Yuma