Tucson Standard

Tucson City Council members Steve Kozachik and Paul Cunningham are demanding the Pima County Board of Supervisors not to require residents to pay for county road fixes as part of their road-repair funding plan in a letter sent to constituents earlier this month.

As initially reported by Arizona Public Media, a pay-as-you-go or pay-go plan that was approved last November uses secondary property taxes or other funds no longer needed for bond obligations to collect $387 million for financing county infrastructure repairs through 2030.

The council members stated in their memo on Feb. 13 that a tax raise for Tucson locals without their approval could harm funding for future projects determined by public vote, which includes the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) expansion set to expire in 2026.

Kozachik and Cunningham suggested lawmakers rescind their policy to allow Pima County road repairs to be funded through City of Tucson property taxes.

While the councilmen object the approved pay-go plan, Deputy County Administrator Carmine DeBonis told Arizona Public Media that the road repairs are a large benefit for local commuters who frequently use the roads in their travels.

“Those roadways are used by residents from the other municipalities,” DeBonis said. “The county doesn’t have another means for replacing the dollars for that portion of road repair that would be otherwise done through the pay-go program.”

He also stated that depending on the rate Pima County residents are paying in other taxes, the county’s next budget could potentially decline.

The pay-go plan will place 60 percent of the $225 million in funds raised through property tax levies into road repairs, while the other 40 percent will pay back the county’s debts. Maricopa County has adapted a similar policy for their road repairs.

The pay-go plan was authorized following the Proposition 463 rejection in 2018, which would have seen $430 million be placed into countywide road repairs. This left a limited amount of alternative solutions to solve the unfunded infrastructure projects, with many of them involving roads, that costed the county more than $700 million.

A Pima County memo from last November states that the Board of Supervisors may reduce or remove the pay-go plan if voters approve of road repairs in the next RTA plan.