Tucson’s voters have passed an extension of a half-cent sales tax to fund street improvement projects, according to unofficial election results released by the Tucson City Clerk’s office.
Proposition 411 was approved overwhelmingly with about 73% of the vote, while 27% of voters opposed to the measure. There were 71,993 total votes cast in the special election.
“Under my administration, we have doubled down on our commitment to repairing our roads and building a state-of-the-art transportation network that is accessible to everyone,” Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a news release Tuesday night. “With the passage of Prop. 411, we embark on a historic effort to fix all of our neighborhood streets.”
The votes released so far don’t account for those who submitted their ballots Tuesday, the clerk’s office said. The full count is set to be released Thursday.
The city asked for a 10-year extension of the tax it says could generate $740 million to improve every city neighborhood street over the next decade. Of the funds collected, 80% will go toward improving city street conditions and 20% toward road safety improvements such as street lighting, traffic signals, sidewalks and network improvements for bicyclists.
The half-cent sales tax first went into effect in 2017 when voters passed Proposition 101. The current sales tax rate of 2.6% will remain the same.
Under Prop. 411, the city says it will conduct an engineering analysis of all neighborhood streets to determine a path forward for improvements. All of the safety improvements under Prop 411 will be overseen by the Complete Street Coordinating council, a public committee of 20 city residents who review transportation projects and oversee implementation.
