I disagree with your comment. Wickenburg does not have to provide a market for every product to be a viable community. If the current government is having fiscal problems it is of their own making. The point of my article was that reliamce on the property tax is revenue neutral regardless of economic conditions – that is, values drop and tax rates increase but the property owner pays the same tax. When sales taxes drop the loss in revenue is real. Maybe this is why the relatively affluent town of Wickenburg is acting like chronically depressed communities and courting aa jail and a rail park on the wrong side of town (to the east NO traffic – to the west ALL traffic).

When you knock the elderly second home owners and snowbirds you undermine the greatest strengths of this community. Wickenburg would not have survived without these components. If they leave you will be looking downtown Kingman straight in the face.

I chose this town partly because of its three hardware stores (but no Home Depot) and its favorable ratio of really good local restaurants versus national chains. If I can’t find what I need here, I can buy it on the internet – so what’s the problem?

Why I am so ‘blond’ about it, because none of this Towns has anything beside Farming – if still existing and protected – that produces anything else, o.k. some smaller businesses do but that doesn’t sustain a Towns capabilities or responsibility for servicing its Citizens.
I a climate that is only dictated by ‘making as much as possible profit’ its even tougher for small Communities with none of such above mentioned source to survive or strive.

What one should consider is to rethink what a Town like Wickenburg beside his respectable age and History makes it interesting for Visitors and Citizens – and thereby accepting that on the long term only the one or two night visitors will make the count.

A lot of towns in Europe in a similar situation have gone down the river but other have survive by adapting to their capabilities and their strengths.
So why is wickenburg accepting the rotting of their history at the former Vulture Goldmine, one of its main attractions which is a shame to see right now as the Ownership alone can not stand to save this attraction for the Town. What about the nice river area at the downstream south east of Downtown, why not making more and for visitors out of his area instead of seeing it rotting the style it is now?

This are only a few examples, my Family and I always like to come to Wickenburg twice or more during the year but you certainly have more to offer for your best striving as now is developed.

Or you stay as the retirement Town and keep your property taxes were the belong and lift them even higher for everybody that doesn’t make a living here for the whole year or is retired.

This is not socialism – this is Market orientated capitalism with a lit bit touch of social thinking as to how can we as a worth it community survive and strive.

I would love to see some development on this and i really can tell you – the Community is ALL what really counts because YOU live here!

Other than food, I do 95% of my shopping outside of town. It’s not because I don’t want to support the community — I do. But if I can’t find the things I need here, what am I supposed to do? Go without?

Wickenburg’s biggest problem is that the community lacks the jobs, goods, and services a financially viable community NEEDS to stay in the black. When you rely on a population composed primarily of retirees who don’t need jobs, are here only half the year, and have all the time in the world to leave town to do their shopping, how can you honestly expect to have a vibrant local economy? Or even expect local shopkeepers to stay in business?

I’d like to point out here that I recently moved my business out of Wickenburg because the local economy simply couldn’t support it. Down in the Phoenix area, my operating costs are lower and my sales are higher. Could simple math like that be why Wickenburg can’t attract more than the fly-by-night businesses that can’t seem to last more than a year?