The Pima County Board of Supervisors did not approve a half-cent sales tax Tuesday that would have provided about $900 million over 10 years to fund road repairs throughout the county.
The proposal needed unanimous approval, but failed on a 3-2 vote. Despite their vocal push for road repair funding, Republicans Steve Christy and Ally Miller voted no over details in the plan.
The issue of road repair is politically contentious in Pima County, and the board is now turning to a different funding solution.
At their July 3 meeting, the board will decide whether to put a $430 million bond dedicated to road repair on the November ballot.
The current estimate to fix all streets inside the Tucson city limits is almost double that amount, $860 million, and fixing all the roads in the county would cost over $1 billion.
The board said the bond plan would require an additional funding solution.
The board also passed their 2019 fiscal year budget and cut the overall property tax rate for Pima County by 6.2 percent. During those discussions the board decided to repeal a 25-cent property tax that had been slated to fund road repair but retained a 14-cent rate.
