Treasurer urges Legislature, governor to move forward on state money issues

Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin told a West Valley audience Thursday that his job is “like running a blackjack table.”

“I handle the money, but I do not make the decisions. I can’t stop the Legislature from hitting on 19,” he said to the West Valley Association of Realtors meeting in Sun City. “I can strongly suggest they not hit on 19, but I can’t stop them from doing it and going bust, which is pretty much what has happened in Arizona over the past few years.”

Delivering an address on the state of the economy and what those in the property business can expect, Martin was critical of the Legislature, saying he warned legislators two years ago of the impending budget problems.

Martin said he began tracking spending and income figures in an effort to spot downturns before it was too late to adjust.

“We compiled spending and income data back to 1990, and we noted that before the dot.com bubble burst in the late 1990s and the housing bubble burst, the numbers warned us it was coming,” Martin said. “It’s a warning system, with live data to tell us what is going on.”

Martin said the Legislature and Gov. Jan Brewer will not listen to his suggestions, instead choosing to ignore the problem.

“What they are doing is acting as though the housing bubble never burst,” he said. “I’m telling them to cut the budget back to 2005 levels, to yank the Band-Aid off immediately, as it were, but instead they spend their time picking at it. Think about this: If they had frozen spending in 2007 like we suggested, there would be no deficit.”

Martin continued the medical analogy, comparing the state’s budget issues to frostbite.

“If you act quickly, you might lose a toe or two,” he said. “Wait a while and you might lose a foot. Wait longer and you might lose a leg. Keep waiting and you might lose the patient. That’s what we have here. The quicker we address the problem, the less painful it will be.”
Martin said the state needs to focus on increasing the taxpayer base.

“Instead of focusing on getting more out of our current taxpayers, we need to focus on getting more taxpayers,” he said. “Like I said, we need to rip that Band-Aid off so we can begin to focus on attracting new people.”
Martin told the audience he does between three and five speaking engagements every day.

“That’s my job right now; that’s what I do,” he said. “I tell people what’s going on, I get the word out. Because we’re going to need public pressure on the Legislature to get things done.”
The economy in Arizona should hit bottom soon, he said, with recovery beginning midway through 2010.

“I think it will be in the second or third quarter of the year, but it will be very mild, very slow,” he said. Martin added that the property tax system in Arizona is the most complex in the world, and without a change, the state will not grow.

“That needs to become an immediate focus, but it won’t be as long as they’re spinning their wheels on the budget.”

Jeff Dempsey may be reached at 623-876-2531 or jdempsey@yourwestvalley.com.