Candidates address SR 347 funding issues at InMaricopa town hall

Wednesday’s veto of House Bill 2685 by Gov. Doug Ducey may have dealt with a tax for residents of Maricopa County, but the effects will be felt by Maricopa motorists.

That was the analysis of two of four candidates for City Council, who took questions Thursday night during a town hall at the Maricopa Public Library.

Interim Mayor Vincent Manfredi and Councilmember Rich Vitiello answered questions on a wide range of issues from a live audience of about 30 citizens, plus viewers watching a Facebook Live stream.

Two candidates who had committed to appear were not able to participate in the InMaricopa-sponsored event. Councilmember Henry Wade had a family emergency that prevented him from attending and challenger Adam Leach was in attendance early, but left before the event began, also citing a family emergency.

One of the primary topics on voters’ minds, unsurprisingly, was transportation and State Route 347.

Ducey’s veto, which delayed putting continuance of Maricopa County’s half-cent sales tax on the ballot from spring 2023 to the 2024 election, was not popular with either Manfredi or Vitiello.

The veto hits Maricopa residents hard because it would have raised tens of millions of dollars for improvements on the stretch of State Route 347 in Maricopa County.

“Thank God he’s gone,” Vitiello said of Ducey, who is term-limited. “So, that’s probably the easiest thing. We don’t have much more (time) to work with him…this is crazy, this is money that we all need to get things done. Every year, we go to D.C. and people say, ‘What do you go to D.C. for?’ We go to D.C. to beg for money.”

Manfredi said the tax revenues would be substantial.

“Just when we thought we had our $90 million, because that’s what was in that, for improvements to the northern section of State Route 347,” Manfredi said.

He encouraged residents to vote to re-implement a Pinal County transportation tax that will be on the ballot in November.

“Because if that doesn’t happen, we’re really screwed when it comes to the 347.”

Manfredi explained that Maricopa County is required to have the state legislature’s approval to put a tax on the ballot, while all other Arizona counties can do it on their own. The legislature passed the bill to do so, next spring, but Ducey vetoed it.

But that wasn’t all, according to Manfredi.

“The problem is, he didn’t say he was going to veto it until he got everything else he wanted out of the legislature, and the budget passed, and the legislature signed it back. They’re done, they’re gone, and then he vetoed it, screwing the people over that need it the most, and that’s us,” he told the audience. “Because in that legislation, if it had passed…was $90 million for the 347 – that’s what we had sitting in that. And Ducey, with a pen, said you cannot have that $90 million.”

Manfredi said next year’s legislature will have to pass the bill again, and the new governor can then approve it or not. But he said the bottom line is that it delays crucial improvements to SR 347 for at least a year.

Ducey’s veto will not affect the tens of millions of dollars approved by the legislature to help pay for Riggs Road overpass. Once funds are included in the state budget, they must be spent within three years. The city and its partners on SR 347 expansion currently are soliciting design and construction bids for the overpass, Manfredi said.

Vitiello said time is of the essence.

“It’s so important to get these things passed now, because by the time you get these things built, the price could double,” he said. “So, that’s why it’s so important to have the half-cent sales tax in Maricopa County. And let’s get a new governor in there who is going to say yes to the people.”

Disclaimer: Vincent Manfredi is co-owner of InMaricopa.