If you want to back the blue in Tucson, try smoking more green.
Tucson's estimated $22 million budget shortfall can’t be tied to one single revenue source flatlining, but the fact that locals are not buying marijuana at the pace they were even a year ago doesn't help the city's bottom line.
Six months into the fiscal cycle, the city has collected nearly $1.8 million in taxes on marijuana sales — but that figure is roughly $700,000 less than city officials had estimated for the year. And unless 4/20 is a bigger holiday than expected, the city is going to fall short of its $5 million weed-revenue forecast.
How does this relate back to police officers?
Part of the 16% tax on recreational marijuana is specifically earmarked for the police and fire departments.
The city has pumped additional money into both departments from the tax ever since voters legalized the sale of recreational marijuana in 2020, the city’s chief financial officer, Anna Rosenberry, wrote in a 11-page memo last week.
The memo provides one of the clearest blueprints yet to understand how the council will make those difficult budget decisions. It specifically lists fixed costs that would be hard to cut ties to, either due to contractual obligations or because they are required to be funded as part of the city charter.
For example, if you don’t like parks and want to slash funding for them, be prepared to be disappointed — the council probably isn't going to do that.
The charter requires that the city maintain public recreation facilities, although there is some nuance around how often the city, for example, has to cut the grass in the pocket park by your house.
The city manager’s office has proposed the “FY26 Spend Plan” to help guide council decisions, suggesting a multi-pronged approach.
At the top of the list of recommendations, however, is ensuring that temporary, one-time initiatives are actually temporary.
“Limit new ongoing commitments until recurring revenues catch up; use one-time funding for one-time needs,” Rosenberry wrote.
This puts pressure on programs started or expanded by grants during the pandemic that have since been folded into the general budget.
So how did we get here?
Sales tax revenue is down slightly below projections, while the state’s budget nerds — the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) — say revenues are up across the state.
Rosenberry puts the blame on two things.
“This can be attributed to the closure of two business establishments within the City – Big Lots and Sam Levitz Furniture, and a possible decline in border traffic to Tucson from Canada and neighboring Mexico due to heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities,” Rosenberry wrote.
While there are sure to be a lot of conversations about how to solve that $22 million shortfall over the next few weeks, the next concrete steps after today’s meeting will be in late April, when City Manager Tim Thomure releases his recommended budget for next year.
Costco wants the city to give it a multi-million dollar tax break as it plans to build a new store on Old Vail Road between Houghton Road and Rita Road.
And it is not just to keep the hot dog prices at $1.50.
The retail giant makes about $250 million in sales per year at each of its other three stores in Tucson, and has applied for a tax break that is available for the newest proposed Costco site on the east side of Tucson, according to an economic analysis commissioned by the city.
The incentive would reimburse Costco roughly the equivalent of 45% of city sales taxes that it generates for the next five years, which is estimated to be worth approximately $7.3 million.
Councilwoman Nikki Lee supports the development (which is in her ward), and said the tax incentive is designed to encourage economic development in the area.
“I support moving forward with this next step because this is not a corporate handout to Costco,” Lee told us. “This incentive is structured so the funds go directly into public improvements like Old Vail Road, which benefits existing businesses, workers, and residents, not just one project.”
A third-party economic analysis suggests Costco will spend $65.1 million on construction alone over the next nine months as it builds up the new location.
Once the new store opens, it could support as many as 320 full and part-time jobs and generate roughly $15 million in sales taxes annually.
The Tucson City Council will discuss the incentive this afternoon at the study session, but it may come back for a formal vote at a regular meeting in the next few weeks.
RTA Next is good for business: Local officials have a lot to say about the renewal of the RTA, judging by how many of them wrote op-eds over the past few days. Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott made his pitch to voters to approve the RTA Next plan, saying it will help “economic competitiveness, business attraction, and keeping Pima County moving.” Tucson City Councilmembers Selina Barajas and Lane Santa Cruz also “strongly support” Propositions 418 and 419, the two RTA Next measures that will appear on your ballot. They pointed to major transportation projects south of 22nd Street being left behind “for far too long” and said they want a Tucson that is “cooler, safer, more walkable and less car-dependent.” Meanwhile, William Beard of the conservative Goldwater Institute said voters should reject the plan, arguing local leaders squandered the RTA plan that voters approved in 2006.
Rental help incoming: Democratic state Rep. Alma Hernandez is rallying support for a pair of housing bills she introduced via an op-ed in the Tucson Sentinel. HB2682 and HB2698 would create a targeted rental assistance program that she says would pull from $5 million in state funds to provide $5,000 to eligible renters.
Know your rights: TUSD Governing Boardmember Sadie Shaw penned an op-ed applauding the students who walked out of school to protest ICE. She reminded them to study their First Amendment rights as they face the choice of “we either watch or we protest in horror.” Shaw also called on law enforcement to show “true service and respect for our constitutional rights.”
New clerk in town: The Tucson City Council chose Marisa Stoller as the next city clerk, city officials said in a news release. Right now, Stoller is working as the city clerk for Pueblo, Colorado, and Tucson officials highlighted her “strong record of transparency, modernization, and civic engagement.”
We’ll do our best to hold her to that strong record of transparency. But we need your help to do it!
Missing mother: In non-opinion news, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, the Arizona Daily Star reports. Sheriff Chris Nanos said the incident is being investigated as a crime and the evidence at the scene on Saturday indicated “she just didn’t walk out of there.”
Pima County Republican Club meets today at 11:30 a.m. at The Kettle just west of I-10 on 22nd St.
The Oro Valley Town Council will meet on Wednesday at 6 a.m. The agenda and the livestream can be found here.
If ever there was a time for ALL CAPS, then this is probably it.
Like many of us, Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez appears to be fed up with the constant BS from the Department of Homeland Security.
After DHS sent out the usual news release blaming the person who was hassled by federal agents for filming them, Hernandez unloaded on them in a Twitter post.