by admin | Dec 1, 2017 | News and Updates
A transforming economy, technological innovation and changes in the workplace have led to an explosion of home based businesses in Arizona. The growth in home based businesses (HBB) and telecommuting has been so pronounced that it is now estimated that 24% of workers are now doing a portion of their job at home.
However, due to an unresponsive and archaic regulatory system that has not responded to this changing work culture, many of these fledgling enterprises have been stifled or extinguished altogether. In many jurisdictions, the patchwork of HBB regulations have created an inconsistent, arbitrary and unnecessarily restrictive home-based business environment. For many of these businesses, compliance becomes a fight against City Hall that is a losing proposition for the politically unconnected.
Over the last several months, the Free Enterprise Club and the Goldwater Institute have unearthed several home-based business regulatory disasters. These stories have illuminated the rampant over-regulation of the practice and the need for reform.
Many of these homeowners have agreed to share their stories in the hopes that what happened to them won’t occur to another unsuspecting HBB in Arizona.
Pinal County Regulations Sink Home Swim Lessons.
For over 10 years Suzy Irwin and her husband taught swim lessons to small children in San Tan Valley. The Irwins live in a community in unincorporated Pinal County, where the proximity to services are few and the nearest swim school is a 30-minute drive away. One summer day in 2013 the Irwins received a knock on her front door—it was a code compliance officer from the county.
After inquiring about the swimming lessons being taught at the Irwin’s home, the county employee informed Suzy’s husband Sean that they did not have the proper “home occupation license” and would need to cease operations immediately.
Suzy believed she had always followed the County’s regulations. After all, the County told Suzy when she moved into the neighborhood in 2003 that there was no permit for home based businesses. Additionally, County environmental services and local fire services provider did annual routine inspections of their pool and backyard. For the past ten years Suzy was proactive in making sure public health and safety standards were met, her business was well insured, and she had all the latest certifications. So of course, her first inclination was to simply come into compliance by filling out some paperwork, paying the $50 fee, and acquiring the necessary license.
If only it had been so easy.
Shortly after applying for the home occupation license, the county came back proclaiming she did not qualify for this type of license because she taught more than 5 children per day, and would instead need to file for a special use permit (SUP) for $500. This came with an additional $200 “concept review” fee which included a meeting to determine her prospects for the permit ever being granted.
In Spring of 2014, Suzy drafted a lengthy narrative, drew a site plan, and filled out the rest of the application. They were required to notify their neighbors located within 1,200 feet of their home and host them at a neighborhood meeting. They were even required to install a bright yellow 4X8 sign (costing $850) in their front yard to provide notice of their upcoming planning & zoning hearing.
The Irwins received an outpouring of support from their neighbors – many of whom were customers and entrusted their own children’s safety to Suzy and her husband. All who attended their neighborhood meeting signed a petition in support of them being allowed to continue their business. Finally, after a lengthy process that already cost the Irwins nearly a year, their application was scheduled for a hearing at the County’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
On July 17, 2014 the Irwins went to their hearing, feeling confident that they would finally receive their approvals and be granted the Special Use Permit. That’s when it all came crashing down.
At the hearing, the County’s new in-house counsel, Mark Langlitz, blindsided county staff and the Irwin’s by informing the commissioners that he did not believe they qualified for a SUP at all. Additionally, Mr. Langlitz stated that the Irwin’s HBB activity was illegal and they were wrongfully using the SUP process as a vehicle for “spot zoning.”
The only path to compliance, according to Mr. Langlitz, would be an entirely different process – to rezone their home to commercial – which would never be allowed. When pressed further on this opinion and why teaching swimming classes would not be allowed at the Irwin’s, the attorney defended his opinion by proclaiming that any for-profit business must be conducted at a commercially zoned property.
After hearing this dubious legal opinion from Mr. Langlitz, the commission voted 10-2 to refer the case to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation to deny their permit.
After an unpredictable roller coaster that cost them in time and money, the Irwin’s had no choice but to accept the verdict and move on. Suzy withdrew their application with the county, sidelining 35 years of combined experience in critical water safety training for children in the community.
Arizona is Ripe for Wide-Sweeping Home-Based Business Reform
Though most home-based businesses are small enterprises; in aggregate the thousands of home-based businesses make up roughly 50 percent of all Arizona small businesses. We should have a regulatory culture that reflects both our value for their economic contributions as well as respect for their rights to earn an honest living for themselves and their families.
The Irwin’s story is indicative of an all-too-common challenge home-based businesses face. It also demonstrates the urgency of greater reform.
Arizona has been a trailblazer in creating a regulatory environment primed for businesses to expand in the State; and as a result, businesses from California have flocked here. Now is the time to send the same message to our home-grown entrepreneurs.
by admin | Nov 22, 2017 | News and Updates
Today, the Arizona Republic published an op-ed written by Christina Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute and Scot Mussi of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club about the recent decision by Phoenix bureaucrats to shut down a Christmas light display. It is a classic example of how the regulatory Grinch can steal Christmas, and why additional reforms are needed to protect home-based businesses and property rights in Arizona.
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Phoenix Canceled Christmas Because a Guy Handed out Cocoa
By Christina Sandefur and Scot Mussi
Every year, Lee Sepanek’s Christmas display brings joy to Phoenicians, who visit to enjoy the glistening decorations and sip the hot chocolate he serves them.
But not this year. Thanks to Phoenix bureaucrats, Lee has been forced to cancel the show.
The trouble started this summer, when the city warned him he was in violation of its Mobile Food Vending Ordinance, even though he isn’t operating any kind of “mobile” facility. He doesn’t even charge for the cocoa — he just asks for donations. But the city says its rules are broad enough to prohibit even giving away cocoa — made from hot water and powdered mix — from your driveway.
Officials told Lee he “would need to find a licensed commissary kitchen as a ‘base’ to store, clean and prep any open food,” and that he would have to get a “special event/seasonal permit,” requiring fees and “inspections onsite.” They also complained that Lee was selling Christmas ornaments, arguing that violates Phoenix’s rules against having a “home occupation.”
In their two-page letter, the Goldwater Institute outlined multiple legal issues and factual inaccuracies in the approved resolution and ballot language, and asked the county to remove the proposition from the ballot to avoid a costly lawsuit if it is approved.
After local news exposed Lee’s story, the city indicated it might budge, but it’s too late. Even if city officials changed their minds, Lee couldn’t get the lights up in time for Christmas.
This is part of a larger problem.
Phoenix’s Grinch-like attitude is part of a larger problem: Across Arizona, local governments are working to shut down home-based businesses, violating private property rights and harming economic opportunity. The Legislature eased restrictions on home-based businesses slightly last year, but it’s time the state provided stronger protections for the right to work from one’s home.
Home-based businesses help make this country run. Apple and Disney were both started in garages. Lawyers, psychologists, furniture repairmen and data entry technicians all work from their homes. And it’s hard to see why it’s OK to do one’s own income taxes on the kitchen table but not for an accountant to do someone else’s in her home office.
Cities that shut down home-based businesses often complain about traffic or neighborhood parking, but there are already rules on the books addressing such concerns. Banning home-based businesses out of fear that some might lead to disruptions is like banning all backyard barbecues because some parties get loud.
And while it’s reasonable to regulate food preparation to protect against food-borne illnesses, the law already protects Arizonans’ right to sell or give away food they cook in their own kitchens.
We need broader protections.
The Goldwater Institute and the Free Enterprise Club are urging state lawmakers to broaden protections for home-based businesses.
In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge questions the Ghost of Christmas Present about laws that forced Londoners to close their stores on holidays — which, Scrooge says, essentially deprived them of income. Why, Scrooge asks, should the Ghost “cramp these people’s opportunities of innocent enjoyment?”
Shocked, the Ghost says he did no such thing — that was done by people who act “in our name” but who don’t really get the Christmas spirit.
It’s sad to think Phoenix officials have a poorer understanding of the holidays than Scrooge.
by admin | Nov 20, 2017 | News and Updates
In what has to be one of the biggest fake news stories of the year, the local media has decided to target the Ducey administration for pay raises that were provided to members of his staff. According the Arizona Republic, since 2015 Governor Ducey has went on a wild spending spree rewarding political allies in his office yet giving paltry raises to school teachers.
It was a damning report with allegations of cronyism, taxpayer waste and hypocrisy, while subtly digging at his alleged lack of support for public education. One small problem: the entire report was factually wrong and designed to mislead readers on how teachers’ salaries are funded in Arizona.
If the reporters had taken the time to review the full executive budget, they would have discovered that overall spending has not increased in the Governor’s office since 2008. Even more damning, they have actually reduced the number of employees in the executive branch. So, the real story is Governor Ducey has restrained spending in his office and reduced the number of government employees by hiring and retaining better talent. Only in the minds of the media and the liberal Arizona Education Association would it matter that Governor Ducey decided to use the same amount of money on fewer, more qualified workers.
What about the lack of teacher pay raises and education funding? What the reporters didn’t include in the story is the fact that state education funding has actually increased the last 3 years. More importantly, when it comes to teacher salaries, the legislature and Governor have very little control over where the money is spent. Most of the decisions related to teacher pay is made by school boards at the local level, not at the state.
It is why 10 years ago lawmakers and the AEA publicly complained that school districts were not giving raises even after the legislature specifically included teacher pay increases in the state budget. It is why some school districts, following the passage of Proposition 123 last year (which increased annual K-12 funding by $350 million), approved teacher salaries across the board while others did not.
The same problem exists under Proposition 301, the 6/10 of a cent sales tax dedicated to education. Rather than have most of the money going to the classroom as intended, Arizona is now seeing a record amount going toward administration costs.
If the media is so concerned about pay raises and bloated salaries, perhaps they could investigate how Prop 301 money has been spent and the kind of salaries and pay raises administrative staff in K-12 have received. Perhaps they could ask the teachers’ union why they are not holding press conferences to demand school administrators take a pay cut or require more money go into the classroom.
This will never happen, of course. The journalist class would rather push a false narrative that conforms with their left leaning bias than challenge their preconceived positions and report on the facts. It’s no wonder that their favorability ratings and credibility is in the toilet.
Fewer people than ever believe what the media says, and fake news stories like this only confirm their suspicion.
by admin | Nov 9, 2017 | News and Updates
Phoenix, AZ – The Arizona Free Enterprise Club announced today the 2017 Free Market Champion Award recipients. The Free Market Champion Award is given to members of the Legislature that demonstrate leadership and a commitment to free market, pro-growth policies in Arizona. This year’s award includes a picture and quote from world renowned economist and true defender of economic liberty, Milton Friedman. The quote on the award reads, “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.”
The two recipients of the Free Market Champion Award are:
- Senator Sylvia Allen (District 6)
- Representative Anthony Kern (District 20)
“The Free Enterprise Club is proud to honor these two legislators for their hard work and consistent support of economic freedom and prosperity at our state capitol,” President Scot Mussi said. “They truly made a difference for Arizona taxpayers and businesses.”
by admin | Oct 29, 2017 | Uncategorized
The Following is a Press Release Issued by Citizens Against Prop 417, the Grassroots Committee Opposed to the Pinal County Transportation Tax Increase:
Casa Grande, AZ (October 30th)–In their effort to pass an illegal, unnecessary tax hike in Pinal County, the backers of Prop. 417 have raised $200,000 dollars from developers, lawyers, construction companies and auto dealers based in Maricopa County. To date the special interest funded “yes” campaign has outspent the opposition 30 to 1.
“It’s not surprising that well-funded special interests from Maricopa County want to raise our taxes. Many of these companies are going to profit immensely from Prop 417 while we are stuck paying the bill.” said Harold Vangilder, Casa Grande Resident and Chairman of Citizens against Prop 417.
According to their campaign finance report filed October 15th, the “New Roads and Freeways before it’s too late” committee raised 95% of their campaign war chest from Phoenix area special interests. Another $10,000 came from Texas. Less than 1% of the money raised in support of Prop 417 came from Pinal County.
“This entire transportation plan is bought and paid for by Phoenix area developers and lawyers.” Said Richard Brinkley, SaddleBrooke resident and Treasurer of Citizens against Prop 417. “Why should we pay for a tax hike that benefits them?”
In addition to Prop 417 being a Maricopa county funded scheme, all of the vendors used for the campaign are based outside Pinal County. Not a single person living in Pinal County was utilized in their campaign spending spree.
Opposition to Prop 417 has been growing rapidly over the last several weeks as Pinal residents learn more about the $640 Million tax increase. Not only is the current transportation tax being wasted and abused, but the County has been notified by a non-profit watchdog organization that Prop 417 is illegally drafted and will be heading to court if it passes.
“The County continues to ignore the legal issues associated with Prop 417, and now we find out that the entire campaign is being funded by outside interests that won’t even have to pay the tax.” Said Peggy Knowles, Pinal County resident and former President of the Republican Women of Pinal County. “Their hypocrisy and arrogance is unbelievable.”
The campaign finance report for “New Roads and Freeways before it’s too late” can be viewed by clicking HERE.
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Paid for by Citizens Against Prop 417. Not Authorized by any Candidate or Candidate Campaign Committee
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