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But critics say promised benefits from the sales tax hike don’t outweigh the higher cost of living.

The 10-year sales tax, dubbed the “Safe & Vibrant City� ballot measure, would raise a projected $800 million over the decade, an average of $80 million annually, the city.

The proposition is split into five different areas, deemed “quality-of-lifeâ€� categories by the city. The biggest slice of the pie will go to first responders, namely the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Police and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Fire departments, which would receive roughly 43% of the funds generated if projections are accurate, but the first category we’ll look at is the “Affordable Housing & Shelterâ€� item, which 17.5% of the annual revenue collected is allocated towards.

City leaders, first responder unions as well as community and business leaders have all to the proposition, according to the website. They say its passage would “make neighborhoods safer, address the affordable housing crisis, and invest in services to improve our quality of life.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Mayor Regina Romero touted the tax plan in her annual state of the city address, saying it is critical to assisting programs that address ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ issues, including housing, the climate, aging infrastructure and drug use.

In terms of the affordable housing, backers say Prop. 414 would increase shelter capacity and access to healthcare, drug and alcohol treatment, as well as mental health services for the homeless. It also would provide low-income families financial assistance, boost affordable housing units “for low-income seniors and other vulnerable populations,� among other benefits.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has a massive need for housing funds, says Ann Chanecka, director of Housing and Community Development for the city.

“I wish it was otherwise, but the reality is the numbers we’re seeing in-terms of unsheltered homelessness, the numbers we’re seeing in-terms of housing affordability, a need for housing, and housing across the housing continuum is huge,� Chanecka said. “We really do need as many resources as we can ... so the money that’s allocated in Prop. 414 will be a huge help.�

Both the city and the county identified the dire need for more affordable housing last fall when they began seeking a federal grant. The cost of housing in the region had “exploded� since 2019, which has caused a “severe cost burden, overcrowded housing arrangements, and homelessness,� with rent and housing prices significantly outpacing income, the said.

The draft application cited a 2021 University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ housing study that estimated “housing affordability solutions are needed for over 75,000 householdsâ€� within city limits alone. As of fall last year, half of all homeowners in the region and 65% of renters make less than $75,000 annually with at least 30% of their income going toward housing, while the county’s poverty rate was 15%.

The housing cost has burdened renters, too. In 2019, the “Fair Market Rent� for a two-bedroom apartment was $903 per month. To pay this rent without struggling financially, renters would have had to earn $36,150 annually, the application says. Five years later, that same two-bedroom apartment cost 48% more and a household would have to earn “at least� $53,480 annually. However, “household incomes increased by just 22% during the same time period.�

The number of people experiencing homelessness in the region increased by “a staggering� 59% between 2020 and 2024, according to the draft application.

Chanecka said the city owns about 2,000 housing units, operates 90 shelter beds and is “supporting� 583 emergency shelter beds, all of which “are full almost every night.� The city also administers 5,500 vouchers through its , which essentially act as rental assistance.

“And so lumping those together, we have over 30,000 people on those waitlists,� Chanecka said. This time last year, she told the Star waitlists stood at about 22,000.

While Prop. 414 has garnered support from a , it also faces opposition from both sides of the political spectrum.

, funded by the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Metro Chamber PAC, opposes the tax hike. If passed, the chamber says, the 9.2% would leave ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ with the highest rate for a major city in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

“The City of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has a $2.4 billion annual budget. They are stating that due to a reduction of state shared revenues, the City of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is receiving $27 million less per year or roughly 1% of the existing budget. Their solution, without performing an analysis to prioritize budget spending, is to tax residents an additional $80 million per year,â€� Vote No 414 says. “ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ can do better.â€�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Metro Chamber president Michael Guymon said that while the city “absolutely needs to addressâ€� homelessness and housing affordability, Prop. 414 is not the solution.

“However, we believe there is a more effective way to do so — one that does not increase everyday costs for families and businesses or weaken our region’s economic competitiveness,� Guymon said in the news release. “ Prop 414 lacks (a) focused approach, and we question its proposed impact on city services as well as the impact of higher taxes on residents and businesses.�Kathleen Winn, chair of the Pima County Republican Party Executive Committee, said the local party is not running its own opposition campaign but instead is working with business leaders.

“As citizens, not as Republicans, but as taxpayers, we are questioning the value of what they’re trying to do, and so it’s more of a financial (issue) . . . Homeownership and affordable housing is an issue. I don’t think that this is the solution to that issue,â€� Winn said. “How did you determine this homelessness issue, which is a very big issue in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, should only get this selection of the pie? Why didn’t they get more?

“The problems that (the city is) outlining, we have those problems,� Winn told the Star. “Do we − the taxpayers − pay more try ty to fix them, or does the city go back to their budget and surgically do a better job of allocating the funding that they’re already getting?�

There is also a grassroots coalition opposed to the sales tax, the , which consists of various mutual aid groups , unions , political organizations and political parties .

April Putney, who represents the coalition, says that while they “are not necessarily opposed� to a new sales tax in a general sense, they reject the funding breakdown of Prop. 414 “as it does not prioritize the most-urgent needs in our community.�

“Seeing as how it’s a sales tax, it’s regressive, and hurts the poor the most ... It’s going to overburden them more so than they already are,� Putney told the Star. “In our opinion, anything within the tax, any spending within the tax, should prioritize things that help the poor the most.�

An from ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ City Manager Tim Thomure cited feedback from Plan ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ development, engagement for developing this year’s budget and input from department directors helped develop Prop. 414.

Putney questioned how Thomure’s office actually weighed feedback to the proposition plan. “There’s nothing that necessarily supports the resource allocation of this proposed tax,� noting that expanding affordable housing was a top concern in the .

Putney said while the first-responder funding that takes the biggest portion of funding in Prop. 414 are needed, “the coalition does not believe that a policing approach solves social issues.�

“ It’s basically indisputable that we are in a housing crisis. I don’t think even people (in support) of this ballot issue disagree,� she said. “If people are being asked to pay more to have the burden on their lives increased when they’re already struggling, that money should go to things that help them stay in their houses, help them meet the cost for groceries, help them have their kids in school, instead of doing things that don’t solve our social issues.�

If passed, Prop. 414’s housing category would be allocated roughly $14 million per year for the 10-year life of the tax, based on a projected $80 million in revenues collected annually. But a few of the items under this category wouldn’t directly go to the city’s housing department, so in total, HCD would see a roughly 10% budget increase, based on the projected annual collections, as well as the department’s budget in the city’s fiscal year 2024-25 budget.

The largest allocations of the estimated $14 million − in terms of projected annual spending − would be $2.5 million for the city’s Housing First program, supplementing the $1.25 million it normally gets from the city budget. There is also $950,000 budgeted for low-barrier shelter development and operations, which HCD Director Chanecka notes should be looked at as working in tandem.

“We’re looking at serving, and of course we’re estimating here, who knows what’s going to happen, but another about 1,300 individuals annually� over the 10-year life of the sales tax, she said. “And then for shelter, since there is those kind-of two different categories for shelter guests, we’re looking at serving another 250 people a year.�

About $2 million per year would go into the city’s housing trust fund to provide gap financing for developers of affordable housing. This is important for a few reasons, but Chanecka especially noted how developers getting gap funding for its projects would open the door for them to receive Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the state level, since if a local government can commit at least $500,000 “it really helps our affordable housing projects in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ secure tax credits that help make the projects work,â€� Chanecka said.

The idea would be to have the gap financing go through the city’s Housing Trust Fund in the form of a loan, so loan payments later on could then be redistributed at a later date, Chanecka told the Star.

About $2 million annually would be set aside for the city to develop its own housing projects, while an additional $1 million each year would be set aside for homeowners and renters to address infrastructure upgrades, such as “HVAC improvements, solar power, roof repairs, plumbing repairs, water efficiency upgrades, EV charging equipment, and ADA improvements, where applicable,� . Chanecka says that about 40 units of city-owned housing could see yearly repairs.