The food tax in the city of Phoenix is going away, although not right away. The city council has approved a plan to reduce the current 2 percent food tax to 1 percent on Jan. 1 of next year and then phased out completely April 1, 2015.
Councilman Michael Nowakowski said the city was facing a huge deficit in 2010 when the tax was approved.
"Back then we were about $270 million in the hole, and basically we’ve gotten out of that, and what’s fair to do actually is to turn it around for those taxpayers that are out there," Nowaskowski said. "So I really want to thank our staff for pulling us out of that hole, those taxpayers who supported the food tax."
City planners say they will make up the $33 million generated from the tax by selling off some excess city property, staff reorganization and refinancing more than $19 million in city bonds.
