Tucson voters have quickly become divided over a proposed half-cent sales tax increase that officials say will create a “safe and vibrant Tucson.” 

Proposition 414, which voters will decide in a special election next month, will increase the sales tax from 2.6% to 3.1% for the next 10 years, generating about $800 million. 

The funds would be distributed into five different categories: affordable housing and shelter, neighborhood and community resilience, enhanced emergency response, technology investments and capital investment to first responders. 

“It’s going to be good for Tucson,” said Prop. 414 campaign chair Patrick DeConcini, a managing partner for 4-D Properties LLP, a real estate firm.

DeConcini said he’s backing the initiative because it addresses Tucson’s growing economic problems.

“I’m a businessman and I’m interested in making Tucson into a better, safer community,” he said. 

DeConcini says the initiative will help address Tucson’s housing crisis, which he says has been driven by the opioid epidemic, income inequality, mental illness and overworked first responders. 

“Let’s take some action as opposed to just feeling sorry for them on the side of the road. Let’s try to get them some help,” he said. “It’s going to do all these good things that I want done, not just for my selfish perspective of a business owner, but because I’m a citizen and I don’t want to see all these people on the street with nobody helping them.”

But the main divide between voters comes from the allocation of funding, with more than 65% going towards public safety investments and the remaining 34% devoted to community resilience programs. 

“We think that significantly more money needs to be allocated from the proposition, or from the tax revenue, to housing and services,” said Liz Casey, a member of the No on Prop 414 coalition.  

Casey is a social worker and has assisted unhoused people through various nonprofit groups and organizations. She said the need has drastically increased. 

“I was seeing from a professional standpoint that I was not really able to do much for my clients,” she said. 

The coalition’s main issue with Prop 414 is the funding for new police technology and surveillance, like drones and license plate readers.

“The city has specifically said … surveillance will be used against ‘violent criminals,’ but we have no idea who actually would have access to that footage and the surveillance,” she said. 

The No on Prop 414 group says this new technology could actually be used to track and detain anyone. 

DeConcini said the funds allocated to public safety will not only fund new police vehicles and technology, but it will also expand the 911 communication center and the city’s 311 system, the number residents can use to report non-emergent situations.

He says an expansion of the 311 center can help address the unhoused and offer resources to anyone struggling with mental illness. 

“Now you’re really trying to help somebody as opposed to trying to play kind of whack-a-mole,” he said. “It’s a much better approach if we can triage every call that comes in.”   

Casey disagrees, saying the best strategy for addressing these issues is with evidence-based solutions, including public restrooms, mental health clinics and harm reduction strategies.

“Things like overdose prevention sites, which politically are not popular, but they’ve been proven effective,” Casey said. 

DeConcini stressed that the funding allocated to low-income housing could be spent right away on the creation of affordable housing, like transforming another hotel into a shelter. 

“That’s 62 potential families we could take off the street right now,” he said.                                                                                        

While Casey can understand why voters, elected officials and organizations would support this proposition, she says community welfare groups that have been asking for more money for years have been dismissed. 

“They’re saying we’re at a point where this is … ‘a crisis, and we need this prop to pass,’” she said. “But they could have been flooding these departments with money.” 

While DeConcini says the sales tax increase is, “not that much,” and the overall allocation of funds are pretty balanced, Casey and others remain frustrated over the historic lack of funding allocated to these same issues.

“We’re just tired of accepting crumbs,” Casey said. 

Voters will have a chance to decide on Prop 414 passes on March 11th, with early voting starting as soon as February 12.

 February 10 is the last day to register to vote in the mail-only election.

Arilynn Hyatt is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at arilynndhyatt@arizona.edu.

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