Tucson City Council members voted to form committees to oversee the use of Proposition 411 funds, which are expected to total about $740 million for street repair and safety upgrades if passed by voters on May 17.
The money will be generated through a half-cent sales tax, and 80% of the funds will go to road fixes — which will be monitored by the Independent Oversight and Accountability Commission — while 20% will fund street safety upgrades that will be overseen by the Complete Streets Coordinating Council.
The commission will be made up of 11 independent community members who will monitor the progress of the city’s road repair program, something officials have said will allow Tucson to fix all of its residential streets in the next decade or so.
Private Tucsonans will also comprise the council. Along with city staff from different departments, they will be tasked with planning the safety upgrades, which could include things like traffic light improvements, in addition to monitoring the funds.
Both groups are meant to serve as watchdogs to ensure sales tax dollars aren’t misused by officials, and that the money is divided correctly between safety upgrades and street repair over the next decade.
“Through the adoption of the truth and taxation policy we are reaffirming to the voters of the city of Tucson our commitment to transparency in the spending of taxpayer dollars,” Mayor Regina Romero said. “(The committees) will ensure that these funds are spent efficiently, consistent with Prop. 411 ballot language.”
The committee ordinance, which was unanimously passed by council members on Wednesday, does contain one loophole: the city council can vote to change the percentage of money dedicated to each Prop. 411 category if any unforeseen circumstances arise.
Officials would have to hold a public hearing after both oversight committees gave their input on any proposed changes, but the caveat gives council members the ultimate say as to whether the 80%-20% split will be adjusted in the future.
Still, the loophole doesn’t allow officials to use the money for anything other than road fixes or street safety without further voter approval.
The city council will appoint members for both oversight committees, though many could be carried over from existing groups tasked with overseeing earlier measures like Proposition 101, which was passed by voters in 2017.
Prop. 411 is largely an extension of the soon-to-expire Prop. 101 sales tax initiative, but the new ballot measure doesn’t include funding for public safety resources — a category that received the bulk of funding under the 2017 initiative.
The oversight ordinance seeks to address that issue as well. It guarantees that “not less than” $18 million will be devoted to police, fire and the 911 call center annually through other funding sources because of their exclusion from Prop. 411.
City officials also said at least $15 million of funding outside of Prop. 411 will be devoted to “collector” streets — roads that carry traffic from neighborhoods onto major corridors — which weren’t included in the Prop. 411 ballot measure.
“We are reaffirming our commitment to invest in our public safety departments — both police, fire and 911 communications — as well as continuing to invest in collector streets that connect neighborhoods and are a very important piece of connecting all modes of transportation,” Romero said. “We’re being as clear and transparent as possible and committing to the things that we talked about as we put Prop. 411 on the ballot.”
The oversight committee details and separate funding guarantees won’t be included in the Prop. 411 ballot language at the polls, but if the measure passes the city will be legally required to follow through with those commitments.
City officials have said similar oversight committees have been “very effective” for earlier sales tax initiatives and are confident they will continue to be this time around. Numerous public safety officials have also come out in support of Prop. 411.
“We’re getting it right and we’re going to continue to get it right,” Councilman Paul Cunningham said. “Everybody’s road is getting paved in a decade. When have we ever thought we were going to be able to say that?”
