Less than a caffe latte will pay for Arizona schools

What can a person get for $1.26 per day? About one-third of a venti Starbucks caffe latte. That's maybe a dozen sips of a cup of coffee.

If I was to tell you that Arizona could fully fund our schools, upgrade support for the Arizona Department of Transportation to improve the roads, pay for AHCCCS and have money in the bank for $1.26 per day, would you be surprised? I was.

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Among the states bordering Mexico, Arizona has by far the lowest General Fund budget per resident.

Arizona's General Fund budget brings in a paltry $1,335 per resident per year, well behind Texas' $1,796 per resident per year.

The General Fund budget per resident for New Mexico is $2,806, and for California, it's $2,582.

Why is Arizona's General Fund budget per resident so much lower than states that compete with us to attract businesses, tourists and new residents? Historically, Arizona's main selling points have been great climate, low taxes and low costs for housing. That's worked great for 50 years to attract people, and Arizona's population growth rate has been stellar.

But here's the deal. Our Legislature has been sitting so tight on its "No New Taxes" mantra that population growth in our state and the rising tide of competition from nearby states are beginning to leave Arizona in the dust.

A $9 billion General Fund budget that might have worked in 2005 is woefully inadequate for today's marketplace. Now is the perfect opportunity to open the discussion about what is an appropriate budget number for our state.

In a recent "My Turn" column, Gov. Doug Ducey wrote, "We want Arizona to be the best state in the country to work and do business." The article extolled the economic potential of increasing trade with Mexico.

He never mentioned funding for Arizona schools to begin turning out students fluent in Spanish as well as English.

Arizona is in an enviable geographic location. We are blessed with multiple world-class attractions that draw visitors year round. We sit across the border from a market with 900 million people that speak Spanish or Portuguese.

People from California who want to slow down the pace of their life, cash out of their high-priced homes and relocate find Arizona an attractive possibility. But these people can also go to Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico or Texas and find good things there as well.

If Arizona were to readjust our tax structure to bring in another $462 per year per resident that would put us on the same General Fund budget per resident rate as Texas. And it brings in an additional $3 billion per year to finally fully fund education, support the Arizona Department of Transportation, and put Arizona on a stable growth path to the future.

The $462 per resident per year equals $1.26 per day.

We're talking about one-third of a Starbucks coffee per day to dramatically improve funding for all the necessary agencies and services in our state. And we'll still be tied for the lowest General Fund budget per resident with Texas, so we'll be at no disadvantage with our competition regarding taxes. We'll still be at the bottom of the list.

Arizona can't become the "best state in the country to work and do business" without appropriate investment. Arizona continues to fall behind in competition against our adjacent states and Texas because we don't bring in enough money to our General Fund.

I do not believe this is an unreasonable target, and we should begin working toward it now.

Gerry Kaufhold of Kearny is a retired market research analyst who has worked with Motorola, the Directors Guild of America and the BBC.