Tempe City Council considers putting 0.5% sales tax on ballot

PHOENIX — Tempe voters could decide this fall whether to approve a 0.5% sales tax, but it depends on an upcoming vote from the City Council.

On May 14, the Tempe City Council will vote whether to place the proposed sales tax — which would consist of 0.3% for public safety, 0.1% for transportation and 0.1% for preschool education — on the ballot.

The meeting will start at 6 p.m. Voters can attend in person, watch the live meeting online or participate on Microsoft Teams.

What would be the impact of the 0.5% Tempe sales tax?

Tempe residents wouldn’t be the only ones affected by the tax increase; visitors who shop in the city would pay it, too.

If approved, the tax would add 50 cents to a $100 purchase in Tempe. However, groceries would be exempt.

City officials said the sales tax would:

• Help improve emergency response times.
• Protect parks by hiring more rangers.
• Add funding for necessary transportation projects, like extra lighting on streets and parks.
• Stabilize the city budget.
• Support preschool education.

Why is Tempe considering a new sales tax increase?

City officials say the added revenue would help replace money the city lost after the state eliminated the residential rental tax and reduced shared revenues.

The additional revenue from this sales tax would help the city from facing difficult choices, like:

• Fewer police officers and firefighters.
• A reduction in transportation services.
• Shortened library and community center hours.
• The scaling back of community programs like Tempe PRE.

How would Tempe sales tax improve public safety, transportation?

City officials say public safety is a major concern, noting that calls for service to Tempe Fire Medical Rescue have increased 53% since 2005.

Interim Fire Chief Kylie Carmen said the additional revenue would make a significant difference, especially as the number of fire prevention building inspections has grown from about 1,000 to more than 6,500 over the past 20 years.

“Our teams have done everything possible with limited resources, but we’ve reached a tipping point,” Carmen said in a recent press release. “You can’t keep increasing the number of people each officer and firefighter serves without serious consequences for response times and safety.”

The city’s transportation infrastructure would also get a boost under the 0.5% sales tax increase, officials said. It would pay for various enhancements, like improving safety and convenience options for biking and walking citywide.

For example, it could:

• Advance the Tempe Streetcar extension east of Mill Avenue to Tempe Marketplace and into Mesa along Rio Salado Parkway to Dobson Road and Main Street.
• Support grant funding for the building of a pedestrian bridge over Town Lake west of McClintock Drive.
• Build extra bus shelters and improvements to transit areas.
• Improve multi-use paths that connect neighborhoods to jobsites and other popular destinations.

If the Council moves forward the proposed sales tax, it would be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

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