After a more than 70-minute discussion, involving multiple motions, lots of back and forth and the careful navigation through the shoals of parliamentary rules, a modified proposal for a 3-cent property tax to fund affordable housing in Pima County has been tabled — again.
The tax hike discussion will pick back up at the next Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting on June 3.
The original proposal was to levy an additional 3 cents on Pima County property owners to raise money dedicated to affordable housing over the next 10 years.
The tax increase was first proposed by Matt Heinz, of District 2.
The amended proposal, after previous discussion by the supervisors, states that the money will be allocated by the board “after thorough vetting by the Regional Affordable Housing Commission, in response to the data and needs on the ground.”
Heinz also noted the federal government’s proposed budget “puts at risk critical programs that keep people housed.”
The significant change is the addition of a “ramp up” and “ramp down” period, in which the additional tax would be 1.5 cents in the first year, 3 additional cents each year thereafter, and back to 1.5 cents in the 10th year, after which the policy would expire. The initial added tax on the average Pima County homeowner would be less than $4 per year. That would rise incrementally over time, eventually reaching $88 per year by 2035 before expiring.
That would raise about $225 million for affordable housing over the 10-year period, according to the most recent proposal.
The supervisors discussed a similar version of the plan at the last meeting, on May 6, and seemed poised to make a decision at the May 20 meeting. But in an emailed press release the same morning, Chair Rex Scott, of District 1, wrote that the proposal “upsets” the board’s work with the housing commission “by prioritizing funding over planning.”
Citing “prudence and our duties to taxpayers” to develop a more concrete plan before voting on more funding, Scott made a motion to wait until a report from the affordable housing commission, due next fall, before making a decision.
Heinz, however, called another delay “ridiculous.”
“It makes no sense to continue this when we know what the urgent need is now,” Heinz said.
He added: “We’ve got the housing study. Everything in this proposal is based on data. We know the need is there. It’s going to start sounding like a joke if we don’t start taking action.”
Supervisor Jen Allen, of District 3, agreed.
“We know the problem,” Allen said. “Delaying the funding component will just delay us even farther.”
“It is an obligation to tackle this now. The planning needs to happen and it will happen. I have no doubt about a good plan,” she said.
Scott’s motion to delay until the fall was voted down 3–2.
Why delay?
While Supervisor Andrés Cano, of District 5, agreed that there is an urgent need to build more affordable housing, he made clear that he couldn’t vote for funding without clearer guidelines and guardrails about how the money will be spent.
It would take a year to collect the funding, Allen and Heinz both noted, and then longer to actually start allocating those funds to construction or keeping people in their homes. Both supervisors pushed for haste in passing the tax increase.
After further discussion, the supervisors voted to take up the proposal again at the next meeting, on June 3.
Meghan Heddings, vice chair of the Regional Affordable Housing Commission and executive director of Family Housing Resources, told Arizona Luminaria during a break in the supervisors’ meeting that there is significant underproduction of new affordable housing.
“There’s no scenario in saying we have too much,” Heddings said.
She added that there has been a slowdown in housing production this year. Heddings also said that at the most recent commission meeting, they estimated the financial need for future housing in Pima County is nearly $2 billion.
Meanwhile, the supervisors also discussed the preliminary county budget for next fiscal year, deciding how to spend approximately $1.8 billion. They are due to vote on a final budget by June 17, and the new fiscal year begins July 1.
Community support
Eight people spoke during the call to public session at the May 20 meeting to support for the tax hike proposal. One of the speakers cried when talking about the prevalence of homelessness in the county.
Another speaker said that she was okay with the increase, and would love to see the board go further.
“I’m here in support of the increase for affordable housing,” said Glenda Avalos, who took the day off work to drive from her home in Ajo to attend the meeting. “The urgent need to support and lift up the community is so important.”
Keith Bentele, a professor at University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute of Research on Women, said he was representing the Tucson Alliance for Housing Justice.
Citing his own report from earlier this year, Bentele said that as recently as 2020, 75% of Tucson homes sold were affordable for a family with a median income. That number of sold affordable homes fell to 38% in 2023.
Urging supervisors to pass the proposal, Bentele called it a “modest response” to the critical need for more affordable housing.
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