Graffiti, Tucson's ubiquitous community nuisance, could become more rampant — and stay around on walls and trash containers longer — as the city rolls back its graffiti-removal program to save money.
The city sent out a notice to several neighborhood association presidents that as of Monday the city would no longer:
● Remove graffiti from waste containers.
● Remove graffiti from alleys.
● Remove stickers on poles.
● Respond to requests for neighborhood sweeps to eliminate all graffiti in neighborhoods.
The city is also transferring the responsibility of responding to graffiti complaints from the city's Community Services Department to the Police Department. The graffiti abatement program had been run by the city's Neighborhood Services Department before that department was merged with community services.
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The graffiti removal cuts are part of "internal" departmental cuts that the city has quietly started making in advance of a major reduction in public services scheduled for discussion next month.
Although the cuts being made now are described in city documents as internal departmental cuts, they also hit residents. Previously announced cuts include shutting down most year-round swimming pools for the winter, closing recreation centers on weekends and cutting weekday hours.
Andrea Ibañez, deputy director for Community Services, said the department's budget could not sustain removal of graffiti from every surface in the city.
Ibañez could not say how much the graffiti removal cuts would save, even to narrow down whether it would be tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The city currently contracts with Graffiti Protective Coating to remove the graffiti, paying the firm about $700,000 last year.
"We're trying to reduce that amount," Ibañez said, noting the city still has a very good relationship with its contractor.
Moving the graffiti removal program to the Police Department will give residents better response to graffiti calls, she said, adding that the contractor can also tell police exactly the types of graffiti that are popping up and where the hot spots are.
Glen Parin, president of the South Harrison Neighborhood Association, said he hoped the city will prioritize well to remove high-profile graffiti quickly after it's put up.
"Graffiti is a big problem in this city," he said. "One of the keys is quick removal. The quicker it comes off the better."
Residents are to continue to call 792-CITY (792-2489) to make graffiti removal requests and call 911 when they see tagging in action.
Did you know
The city has had a graffiti-removal program since February 1992, when it signed on to a program started by Juvenile Court Intensive Probation Office the previous December. The program required teens who had been busted for putting up graffiti to spend time painting over it. The program ran on a shoestring. The kids were not paid, and the paints were left-overs from Pima County's hazardous-waste collection project.
