Letter to Senator Sinema: Proposed Taxation Issues
Please consider having your voice heard and sending the letter below to your Senators.
Dear Senator Sinema:
Ever heard the song Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealers Wheel? It was a popular song in 1973, but today it could have been written about the two of us—you in the unenviable middle on several political issues and we, the hundreds of Arizonan private RV park, campground and glamping business owners, right there with you.
As small business owners we stand for lower taxation of private enterprises, along with the millions of campers who stay at our parks each year and do not want to see these cost burdens passed through to them. We hope you are with us.
We are mostly legacy businesses, going back 30, 40, even 50 years. You may know or have even stayed with one or more of us in the past. We represent the great outdoors, where people hike, bike and sleep under the stars and make memories that will last a lifetime. All we want is a chance to keep our businesses afloat, without being taxed to oblivion under the proposals soon to come through the Senate.
We are typically asset rich, but cash poor, meaning the proposed changes to the taxation of capital income will be extremely troubling. Many of Arizona’s RV parks, campgrounds and glamping businesses are family owned and operated. Raising the top capital gains rate to 39.6 percent and eliminating the stepped-up basis for inheritance, will both force the next generation of business owners to downsize or even sell their business just to pay the tax bill.
Similarly, the proposal for a new gas tax will be especially harsh, as 100% of RVs are not electric powered and consume more gas than the common passenger car. That spells disaster for the millions who come to Arizona every year to stay and play in our parks, spending $25.6 billion supporting all businesses in our local communities. They will certainly take pause, and may stop coming all together, as these taxes are passed through to them.
Please support us Senator Sinema by rejecting these tax proposals, or at the very least finding compromises that small business can withstand. Without your support we’re “stuck in the middle” and it’s Arizona’s family-owned and operated small businesses and the visitors we serve who will ultimately suffer.
Thank you,
[NAME HERE]