Want better roads? Arizona leaders say extending transportation tax is only solution

A bipartisan group of political and business leaders on Tuesday formally launched a campaign to convince Maricopa County voters to continue for another 20 years a half-cent sales tax that funds transportation.

The kickoff event offered insight into how the Valley's mayors, county leaders and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs will pitch voters in the state's most populous county to say yes to the tax on their November ballot. The political campaign in support of what will appear on the ballot as Proposition 479 is dubbed Connect Maricopa.

Their message is that Arizona's economic growth depends on infrastructure improvements funded through the tax extension. The personal perk to drivers is shorter commute times.

"Whether we're talking about electric vehicles or semiconductors, our region's industries are linked together by our investments in infrastructure," said Mesa Mayor John Giles, a Republican. "Let's keep the moment going. Let's grow our economy and shorten our commutes."

An estimated $14.9 billion would be raised should voters approve the tax extension. Of that, 40.5% would go to freeway projects, 37% to transit and 22.5% to arterial streets and intersection improvements. Of the transit pool, 3.5% can be used to maintain existing rail infrastructure.

While there will be a regional approach to get Proposition 479 passed, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego noted that the campaign will speak to voters locally, too.

“I think we hope to tell voters what is happening in their local communities," Gallego said. "For residents in Phoenix, they may care that we’ll be able to make I-17 safer and flow more effectively. For voters in Buckeye, they may care more about State Route 30."

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And then there are the items all drivers can support.

“We are united as a county in not liking potholes, and we're going to have a lot more of them if this doesn’t pass," she said. Gallego, a Democrat, is the chair of the Maricopa Association of Governments, a regional collaboration that handles transportation planning and is the chief supporter of the tax.

The leaders foreshadowed some hurdles ahead and work they've done to preempt a likely counterargument to come from low-tax and limited government groups. Gallego noted it will likely be a long and crowded ballot in November, meaning breaking through the political noise to make Proposition 479 known to voters will be a priority.

Giles noted the years of work to get the renewal before voters in a form that would win the approval of Republican majorities in the Legislature. That meant continuing the half-cent tax versus increasing it, as proponents would have liked.

Holding steady may appease inflation-fatigued voters at a time when roughly three of every four Americans ranks the economy as fair or poor, according to a Pew Research Center survey earlier this year.

“In this kind of tortured journey we've been on to get to this, initially two or three years ago we were saying there's no way we can do this with just a half-cent sales tax, because of inflation, because of the expanding needs of the region," Giles said.

"We made the very calculated decision ... We're not going to quote-unquote increase taxes because we’ve got to get this through a conservative Legislature, and it needs to be a no-brainer when we go to the voters," he said.

Maricopa County is the only one of Arizona's 15 counties that must get the state Legislature to sign off before calling a transportation election because of a 1999 law enacted by transit-wary lawmakers.

A bipartisan group of Arizona lawmakers voted to send the question to Maricopa County voters last year after months of debate and negotiation with Hobbs about what the extension should look like. Republican objections to funding light rail expansion and alternative fuel vehicles ultimately prevailed, and GOP lawmakers won Hobbs' signature on a bill repealing the rental tax charged by some municipalities.

Over 70% of Maricopa County voters approved the half-cent tax for the first time in 1985, when it appeared on ballots as Proposition 300. In 2004, voters again approved a 20-year extension with nearly 58% in favor of what was then called Proposition 400.

That extension expires at the end of 2025.

The Connect Maricopa campaign was established in October. According to the group's first campaign finance filing with Maricopa County, early support is coming from the Arizona Association of Realtors ($500,000 contribution); business group Greater Phoenix Leadership's political arm, Committee for Arizona Leadership ($50,000); BNSF Railway Company ($50,000); and the real estate development group Valley Partnership ($15,000).

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona leaders: Extend transportation tax to fix Phoenix-area roads