The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Steven Cole
On Aug. 14, the Tucson City Council posted notice of its intent to significantly increase several taxes and fees for city residents. The proposal is intended to generate over $7.6 million in new, additional annual revenue.
One significant and troubling question immediately comes to mind: Were city officials not listening when residents resoundingly rejected the city’s request for higher taxes, or are they intentionally seeking an end-run around the voters? Hardworking Tucson families are already facing rapidly rising costs, limited opportunities, and stagnant wages. This is ultimately an undemocratic tax increase on working-class residents.
While the stated objective of these increases is to “strengthen funding for municipal services,” the burden of these hikes will fall directly upon residents themselves.
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For instance, the proposed increase in the public utility tax from 4.5% to 5% would establish the state’s highest public utility tax rate. Such a measure directly hurts household budgets, effectively penalizing citizens for their reliance on essential daily services like electricity, water, and gas.
The City’s Planning and Development webpage also describes a proposed increase in pawn shop and secondhand transaction fees from $1 to $3 per transaction. In addition to supporting sustainability and recycling, resale businesses provide real value to residents by helping them get the necessary items they need at a much lower cost.
These types of community-based transactions should be incentivized rather than made more costly. By increasing these fees, the City of Tucson is raising new revenue off of its most vulnerable residents. In short, this is undeniably a regressive tax.
Furthermore, the proposed financial adjustments extend beyond individual households to directly impact businesses, which would face the added burden of a new 2.6% advertising tax.
This constitutes an additional cost for local businesses, already struggling to compete in a challenging market. The last thing our city government should be doing is making it harder for local Tucson-based businesses to reach their customer base and sustainably grow.
The city recently rejected Project Blue, which would have been a large and reliable source of tax revenue in addition to the planned investment in infrastructure. The city should instead be seeking ways to welcome productive investments that responsibly drive revenues, while protecting the long-term interests of Tucsonans.
Refusing to negotiate better terms and turning away this viable source of funding should not give the city free rein to seek revenue off the backs of hardworking residents — and especially not when low-income families would unquestionably be hit the hardest.
Steven Cole is a small-business owner and real estate appraiser.
