What’s wrong with Phoenix raising taxes?

Let’s talk about taxes. They aren’t evil. They are how we pay for the services everyone wants and expects from their city, county, state and country.

It’s time to call the politicians on their anti-tax chorus.

Here’s a small-time example. Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio’s charge that Phoenix used stealth to raise taxes got a two-star, “Somewhat true/somewhat false” rating by The Republic’s Fact Check.

His tweets about taxes were predicated on the idea that all taxes are bad — and that more liberal members of the council were pulling a fast one.

There’s a built-in audience for the anti-tax, anti-government dog whistle.

Conservatives have been courting political favor by denouncing taxes as inherently evil for so long — without a meaningful challenge from the left — that their fairy tale has become a national myth.

Here’s the reality check: Taxes aren’t evil.

Taxes are how we pay for the services everyone wants and expects from their city, county, state and country.

Taxes are the reason the police come when you call and the trash gets picked up and the streets are paved — and a lot of other things people take for granted.

We all chip in to pay for public services that we all need. It’s a communal effort that benefits everyone.

Denouncing taxes has the appeal of a free lunch.

Let’s see where it got Arizona. Over the past few decades, Arizona cut billions from state revenue through a variety of tax cuts — each and every one touted as a tool to boost Arizona’s economy.

❚ But Arizona remains a high-poverty, low-wage state where an average worker struggles to find an affordable place to live.

❚ Where K-12 schools are so underfunded that teachers walked off the job to demonstrate the need.

❚ Where state support for public universities was cut so much that tuition had to be raised beyond the ability of average families to pay it — despite the state Constitution mandate that it be “as nearly free as possible.”

Arizona’s Legislature is slash-happy when it comes to cutting taxes.

And blatantly negligent when it comes to raising taxes to pay for what the state needs – despite a state Constitutional mandate to do so.

This year, #RedForEd protests shamed the GOP-led Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey into approving an extension of a sales tax that voters approved in 2000 for education

They also got the promise of raises in future years — promises that are not backed up with a funding source.

Now, #RedForEd is supporting a tax on the rich to create a dedicated funding source for education. The goal is to restore education funding to pre-recession levels.

Ducey is denouncing their Invest in Education Act ballot measure.

Supporters filed more than 270,000 signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office last week. They need 150,642 valid signatures to get on the November ballot.

So clearly, a lot of people see past the anti-tax lie.

Yet from the city-council level on up, so-called conservative politicians continue to see railing against taxes as a way to win public support.

It’s time to challenge the narrative. There’s nothing “conservative” about not following the state Constitution.

And there’s nothing logical about denouncing the taxes we need to pay for services people expect.