Con: Prop. 104 is a tax that benefits only a few

• Proposition 104 is being pushed by radical lobbyists and politicians in Phoenix.
• It is one of the biggest and longest tax proposals the city has ever seen.
• The good people of Phoenix are too smart for the tax-hungry lobbyists pushing this measure.

The Phoenix metro area is one of the most common-sense communities in America.

PRO: Prop. 104 would make Phoenix a better place

We have benefited greatly from the mass exodus happening from California and New England due to failed “tax and spend" policies that have decimated their economies and forced businesses to relocate. Phoenix has become one of the natural landing spots for small- and large-business owners now calling the Valley of the Sun home.

Our community must continue to be competitive by using new technology in mass transit — not relying on ancient, outdated and expensive tax schemes that will ultimately be impractical for this and future generations.

Here are the facts. The proposition being pushed by radical lobbyists and politicians in Phoenix is one of the biggest and longest tax proposals the city has ever seen.

Food for thought: The current $31.5 billion proposal could purchase more than 2.1 million Smart Cars or roughly subsidize 60-million average Uber rideshare trips in the proposed light rail area every year, for the next 35 years!

What about our teachers? How far could this kind of money go in our schools? Well, if we applied the same investment, we could hire more than 16,000 teachers every year over the next 35 years, on today’s average salary!

MORE: Light rail is focus of transit-tax campaign

RELATED: How Phoenix's transit promises have fared

If we’re asking taxpaying citizens to foot a bill, shouldn’t it be for services that everyone uses? Less than 1 percent of us use light rail. Shouldn’t education be a bigger priority? How about supporting our police officers with additional resources that they desperately need?

These are more sensible things that our city needs now and forever. Will we even need light rail in 35 years?

The good people of Phoenix are too smart for the tax-hungry lobbyists and self-serving politicians who have drained places like California and New England of their small businesses, talented citizens and tax base. People fled these kind of failed policies for a reason — let’s not send our new neighbors packing again.

Tyler Bowyer is chairman of the Republican Party of Maricopa County.