Tucson voters are deciding whether or not to approve a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for public safety, emergency response and community services, among other things. Prop. 414 would increase the city’s sales tax from 2.6% to 3.1% for a decade. Early voting is underway, and Election Day is March 11.
Caitlin Schmidt, editor and publisher of Tucson Spotlight, joined The Show to discuss who’s behind Prop. 414 and who’s supporting it.
Full conversation
MARK BRODIE: Let's start with who's behind Prop. 414. Who's supporting it?
CAITLIN SCHMIDT: So Prop. 414 is backed by the city of Tucson. They are really saying that we need this sales tax push to fund the safe and vibrant city initiative to the tune of $800 million and we're actually seeing in addition to just, you know, the City Council who you would expect to be backing it because they have to, people are kind of coming out of the woodwork. I've been getting emails every couple of days from the Yes on 414 campaign about who's endorsing it, which is including state senators, representatives, former representatives, the mayor of South Tucson, so it's kind of widely backed by those in the political scene.
BRODIE: And in terms of those who are not supporting it, what are their arguments? Why do they think this is not the right move?
SCHMIDT: So the big concern that we're hearing from opponents about Prop. 414 is the amount of money that's allocated to police and police technology and equipment, which is roughly 65%. So you know, the defund the police crowd, but also the people who are just really concerned about policing trends that harm marginalized communities, people of color, they are not in support of this.
And we're also hearing from members of the social service community that have been working with unhoused community members for years that this is not the solution. They've been asking for more money for public services, public restrooms, shelter, housing, and this proposition doesn't do it. It allocates less than 35% to that and not even all of that will go to affordable housing and those kinds of services.
BRODIE: So it sounds like at least some, if not most, of the critics of this are not people who say the area doesn't need the money. It's that they don't like how the money is divvied up.
SCHMIDT: Yep, that seems to be, that seems to be the opinion, you know, and if you look at the breakdown, it doesn't on the city's campaign materials and on the Yes on 414 campaign materials. It doesn't overtly say 65% of this will go to police. The breakdown looks a little bit different, but you know, these categories are enhanced emergency response, technology investments, capital investments for first responders.
Those are all things that are going to fund police and emergency response, and these include like tactical vehicles, widespread surveillance. So there's some concerns about how the information that's collected will be used and who will have access to it. So it sparked a lot of concerns.
BRODIE: Are there any people concerned about the increase in taxes and how the rate is going up and what that might do for the economy?
SCHMIDT: You know, I haven't heard as much about that. You know, it is a half-cent sales tax increase. We have these every couple of years. They tend to grandfather out once they lapse. So that hasn't been the bulk of the argument, but mostly what we've been hearing is it's just a, it's just a way to secretly slip in more money for police.
BRODIE: Have any supporters addressed the concerns of opponents in terms of how the money is going to be divided up and maybe what law enforcement will be doing with it?
SCHMIDT: Yeah, you know, the city, the city is trying to address that. I haven't seen, you know, honestly, the city manager just wrote an op-ed to the Star the other day and did not address that at all, which was surprising to me. So really, I haven't, I haven't seen them directly address that.
You know, they're trying to say that, you know, that the surveillance will be used to address violent criminals. It won't be used to track to track everyday citizens, but I think just the historical implications of what surveillance and who's been, you know, targeted by the criminal justice system are kind of looming in the forefront of people's minds.
BRODIE: For the city, like what are they saying the impact would be if this does not pass?
SCHMIDT: I mean, they're saying, you know, with the federal funding that is no longer available, pandemic relief funds and a lot of other federal funding in question, they're really stressing that we need this money in order to make a dent in the affordable housing crisis. Things are really in flux. A lot of the priorities that the city has pushed funding towards over the past few years are not really in line with the federal government anymore, right?
I mean we've we've worked towards environmental justice, a lot of environmental initiatives here that doesn't seem to be priorities from above and so I think they're concerned that if we don't pass this, we will have a harder time finding funding for the things that we prioritize here in Tucson versus what is prioritized around the country as a whole.
BRODIE: That's interesting. So, like, how engaged is Tucson in this? Like, is this something people are talking about in day to day life?
SCHMIDT: Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of chatter on social media,, both the Yes on Prop. 414 and No on Prop. 414 campaigns are really active. We're getting emails every couple days,, you know, about who's endorsing. There was actually a press conference at City Hall last Friday, so the campaigns are definitely out and about.
I've seen a lot of chatter on social media and I've heard from a lot of community groups who are really trying to get their point out but as we know, people talking about something doesn't necessarily translate to them showing up at the polls, and historically city only elections are really low turnout.
BRODIE: Are the two sides like evenly funded in terms of the resources they have to get their message out, or is one like is the yes side or the no side, is, is one of them, does one of them have considerably more money than the other to get their message out?
SCHMIDT: I haven't looked at the campaign finance, but I, the business community and you know, I, I suspect given the people who are backing Prop. 414, that there's more money in those coffers. The chairman for Prop. 414, the yes campaign is Patrick DeConcini, who is a very well known local businessman. He's part of the legacy DeConcini family. You know, this is getting a lot of support from groups like the Truth on Crime Free Coalition who have really been pushing the city hard to address these issues. So I suspect that this side has more funding than the other.
BRODIE: Got it. And has there been any polling on this? Like, is there a sense of how Tucsonans feel about this?
SCHMIDT: I haven't seen any polling, you know, it's interesting because our city officials have to be really careful. They can't say anything during the mayor and council meetings that could count as campaigning for this. So what's been interesting in the recent meetings is we've seen a lot of people come and address them during call to the audience.
Most of them on the no side, overwhelmingly on the no side, and, you know, in those situations, the city can't respond, but they are really active campaign wise. I'm seeing more signs from the yes campaign, seeing a lot more activity in terms of press conferences and that sort of thing from the yes side. So, it's, you know, it's tough to say.
