Tucson voters may decide on a sales tax hike to fund public safety, affordable housing

Tucson voters may get to decide whether to increase local sales taxes to drive funds toward public safety and affordable housing through a ballot measure next year.

The mayor and city council discussed a “quality of life” ballot measure package on Tuesday. They’ll discuss it once more at a meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 11 before calling a special election in March 2025.

The proposal is to increase the sales tax rate for Tucson residents from 8.7% to 9.2%.

The extra half-cent would bring in an additional $80 million a year during a 10-year period, according to City Manager Tim Thomure. The funds would go to five areas selected with input from residents — affordable housing and shelter, neighborhood and community resilience, enhanced emergency response, technology investments, and capital investments for first responders.

“The proposed measure is structured with the goals of increasing resources for public safety, while also increasing investment in our community and its people in order to lower the demand for public safety in the future while improving quality of life today,” Thomure wrote in a memo to the mayor and city council.

The money would offset the state-level reductions in tax dollars that city officials and Mayor Regina Romero said are largely caused by former Gov. Doug Ducey’s implementation of a 2.5% flat tax .

“Staff is now projecting that the City will experience a nearly $400 million loss in state-shared revenue over the next 10 fiscal years,” Thomure wrote in the memo.

The money provided by the proposal would not only make up for the decrease in funds but the extra cash would also allow for the expansion and continuation of programs and necessary investments, according to Romero.

“It is to continue investing in programs that we have created but to also grow those programs.” Romero told Arizona Luminaria during a city council study session Tuesday. This includes programs like Housing First and PEEPS , a free preschool program.

Other initiatives in the proposal include bettering the transit system experience through more shaded bus stops, wifi on the buses and general safety improvements.

The funding loss has forced the city to seek alternative funding sources and consider cuts to services.

“We had to start a conversation about how we are going to cover the needs that we have,” Romero said at the meeting.

The plan includes an oversight committee to ensure that, if the measures pass, the funds would only go to purposes authorized by voters and the mayor and council.

Tucson residents currently pay an 8.7% sales tax — this figure includes the state’s (5.6%), county’s (0.5%) and current city’s (2.6%) sales tax rate. The half-cent increase would raise the total to 9.2%.

The last change to the city’s sales tax was in 2018 when it increased from 2.5% to 2.6% after residents approved a proposal to fund the Reid Park Zoo Improvement Fund.

Homelessness, poverty and public safety were top concerns based on responses to a city-wide survey earlier this spring . Community safety, particularly around homelessness and fentanyl, were also key issues in the 2023 municipal election cycle .

The ballot measure directs these funds to five key areas — affordable housing and shelter, neighborhood and community resilience, enhanced emergency response, technology investments, and capital investments for first responders. Almost a third of the money would go into capital investments for first responders, including equipment, vehicles and remodels for some buildings.

Here’s the proposed annual funding breakdown :

• Capital investments for first responders – $24.6 million
  • Tucson Police Department apparatus – $1.7 million
  • Tucson Police Department patrol vehicles – $6 million
  • Tucson Police Department non-patrol vehicles – $2.7 million
  • Tucson Fire Department apparatus replacement – $4 million
  • Tucson Fire Department personal protective equipment – $870,000
  • Public Safety Training Academy modernization – $1.5 million
  • Southeast Tucson Police Department and Tucson Fire Department Center – $4.4 million
  • Tucson Fire Department infill station – $1.2 million
  • Tucson Fire Department Ladder 5 purchase – $200,000
  • Tucson Police Department Station modernization – $1 million
  • Tucson Fire Department Station modernization –  $1 million

• Enhanced emergency response –  $18.2 million
  • 21 additional staff for Tucson Fire Department infill station – $2.3 million
  • 14 additional staff for Tucson Fire Department Ladder 5 – $1.65 million
  • 2 additional staff for Tucson Fire Department Hazmat Two – $210,000
  • 30 additional firefighters for Tucson Fire Department response improvement – $3 million
  • 40 additional sworn officers for Tucson Police Department – $5.6 million
  • 40 additional Community Safety Officer and Professional Staff Investigator for Tucson Police Department – $2.6 million
  • 10 additional 9-1-1 operators – $800,000
  • 10 additional 3-1-1 operators – $700,000
  • Community Safety Awareness and Response Center and IT Technology Support – $1.4 million

• Affordable housing and shelter – $14 million
  • Gap financing pool – $2 million
  • Impact fee waiver pool –  $750,000
  • City owned housing stock – $2 million
  • Homeowners – $1 million
  • Renters – $1 million
  • Down payment assistance – $300,000
  • Asset repositioning (“take city owned housing and try to create a program for low-income home ownership”)  – $700,000
  • Housing First program – $2.5 million
  • Community Safety Health and Wellness program staffing – $750,000
  • Mobile/specialty courts – $1 million
  • Justice transition center – $500,000
  • Sobering alternative facility for recovery center – $500,000
  • City court rehab / relocation – $1 million
    
• Neighborhood and community resilience – $13.4 million
  • Office of violence reduction –  $300,000
  • 40 additional community safety officers – $2.6 million
  • Investments for community based violence interruption – $1 million
  • Community safety health and wellness staffing for community based violence interruption  – $600,000
  • Thrive Zone investments – $1 million
  • Workforce development – $1 million
  • Early childhood programs – $1 million
  • Youth workforce – $1 million
  • Somos Uno investments – $1 million
  • Team Up to Clean Up – $1.4 million
  • Urban forest maintenance  – $500,000
  • Transit shade and security – $2 million
    
• Technology investments – $9.8 million
  • Body Worn Camera program –  $4 million
  • Computer aided dispatch system, radios, other communication tools – $4.1 million
  • Air support modernization – $1.7 million

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