Core Services Tax -
WHAT WE HAVE DONE OVER THE
PAST THREE YEARS
The City has taken steps to deal with declining rev-
enues. Below is a list of cuts that have been made to
help balance the budget.
• Suspension of residential street paving; reduced
roadway maintenance
• Closure of 17 of 27 summer-session swimming
pools and 6 of 10 winter-session pools
• Reduction in neighborhood center hours, includ-
ing closure of Ormsby Neighborhood Center
• Eliminated funding for more than 130 vacant
police positions
• Reduction in funding to outside agencies such as
arts, economic development and social services
• Deferred infrastructure replacement and
maintenance of streets, facilities, vehicles,
equipment and technology
• Elimination of the Back to Basics (neighborhood
improvement) program
• Funding cuts to youth employment programs
• Decrease in leisure classes and elimination of
teen programs and most adult sports programs
• Elimination of 479 General Fund positions
(187 between FYs 10 & 11)
• Employee layoffs and reduced compensation
(wage freezes, furlough days, increased public
safety pension contribution, increased medical
premium costs)
• Debt restructuring
While the cuts have been deep, additional service
reductions will be necessary in order for the City
to balance the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. In an
effort to maintain service levels, City leaders have
deferred making more significant service cuts in
anticipation that the economy would recover. How-
ever, the recession continues, and now the City is at
a critical point -- that without additional revenues,
city residents will be receiving reduced levels of
basic core services. Citizens will be asked to decide
in November what level of services they want in
the future.
City Staffing Trends
Fiscal Years 1998-2011
Proposition 400 is on the ballot for
November 2, 2010.
For more information:
www.tucsonaz.gov/coretax
If you require these materials in accessible format or
in a language other than English, call 791-4204.
Proposition 400
Quick Facts
• The half-cent sales tax increase (50
cents per $100 purchase) or “core tax”
is temporary and will automatically
sunset by law after 5 years
• Core tax revenues can only be spent
on Public Safety, Transportation, and
Parks & Recreation
• Without the tax, the City will have
to make an additional $40 million in
budget cuts to address next year’s
$51 million projected deficit
• Core tax revenues will be independently
audited and a quarterly report will be
reviewed by a citizen oversight committee
• Since 2007, the City has lost over
$70 million in sales tax and state
shared revenue
• Current city staffing is at 1998 levels yet
population has grown 17% since then
 The Core Tax and Permanent Override Review Committee has recommended that city residents vote on a half-cent sales tax increase (50 cents per $100
purchase) that could generate an estimated $40 million annually to maintain and preserve core services. The committee, appointed by the Mayor and
Council, is also advising them on alternatives if this tax is not approved by voters and will make its recommendations to Mayor and Coucil in September.
If passed by voters, the tax increase would sunset in five years.

If the half-cent sales tax passes, revenues will support the following staffing and service levels:

Police Parks and Transportation

º Retain 224 commissioned officer and 50
civilian positions.
º Continue response to calls related to civil
matters, alarms and public assists.
º Avoid requirement to report certain crimes
only through internet.
º Continue community policing initiatives
and retain community response teams
and bicycle units.
Recreation
º Keep all current recreation centers open
and continue regular hours of operation
at facilities.
º Retain 168 positions.
º Continue support for performing arts
events and civic/community events.
º Retain KIDCO program with its 5,800
participants at after-school and summer
recreation sites.
º Retain the current level of Sun Tran
and Sun Van Service.
º Maintain the Stormwater Program
to protect groundwater.
º Keep the Graffiti Abatement Program
at today’s level.

Court
HOW WE GOT HERE

Services
Decreased local sales tax revenues and a continued

Fire (City Court, Public Defender,

º Keep all fire stations open.
º Retain 150 commissioned positions,
7 engine/ladder companies, 3 paramedic
companies and 3 alpha trucks.
º Avoid longer response times and potential
average increase from the current 4.5
minutes to 5 to 9 minutes.
º Retain Fire Prevention staff for Certificates
of Occupancy, fire inspections, and public
education.
City Prosecutor)
º Retain 28 Court positions, 7 Public Defender
positions, and 5 City Prosecutor positions.
º Avoid increase in wait times in Court lobby
and on telephone.
º Continue prosecution of misdemeanor
crimes such as criminal damage, graffiti,
and prostitution.
º Continue prosecution for Code violations
pertaining to zoning, neighborhood
preservation, noise, weedy lots, and
junk cars.
decline in the City’s portion of state-shared revenues
mean that the General Fund cannot sustain existing
service levels. From Fiscal Year 2007 to the Fiscal
Year 2011 end projection, these revenues decreased
by a combined $70 million.
This situation is not unique to Tucson. Other cities
face declining revenues due to higher unemploy-
ment levels and decreased spending. This has led
to a reduction in sales tax receipts that the City of
Tucson’s General Fund uses to support its core
services – police, fire, court services, parks and
recreation, and transportation.
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