At their meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, Prescott City Council took two separate actions to address concerns expressed by the public about Proposition 478, the sales tax increase to support public safety, scheduled for the November ballot. City Council limited the definition of “Public Safety Services” in City Code to police and fire and also passed a resolution requiring funds to be deposited in a separate revenue account with prescriptions for use, reporting, and public monitoring.
“The goal of Council’s actions today is to address concerns we have heard from citizens,” said Mayor Phil Goode. “We understand that transparency is critical as we ask voters to pass an increase in the transaction privilege (aka “sales”) tax to support public safety infrastructure and staff development. These measures taken today answer the public’s questions and provides additional assurances about Proposition 478.”
The first action, Ordinance 2024-1874, amends the definition of “Public Safety Services” in Prescott City Code. It says “Public Safety Services” “shall mean expenditures from the City’s General Fund, or from any voter approved initiative to increase the City’s transaction privilege tax for public safety services, directed solely to the public safety of life, health, property and the welfare of inhabitants of the City and such expenditures shall only be available to the Prescott Fire Department and Prescott Police Department including dispatch and emergency medical services.”
The Council’s second action, Resolution 2024-1905, states that “all revenue related to Prop478 will be deposited into, and thereafter reviewed, monitored and distributed from a separate revenue account within the General Fund”, that “this information will be reported during all future Council budget workshop meetings,” and that “this information will be readily available for public review throughout the year on the city’s OpenGov platform accessible on the city website.”
A copy of each document can be found at ParticipatePrescott.com.
About Prop 478
Proposition 478 seeks to improve emergency response times by increasing the Transaction Privilege (sales) tax by .95% to fund fire and police capital projects including fire stations and a police evidence facility. Once capital needs are met, or after ten years, this proposal would reduce the tax to .75%. The remaining .75% would pay for ongoing operations. Ballot language can be found on the City website. https://prescott-az.gov/dedicated-transaction-privilege-tax-prop-478/
For more information and to take a brief survey about Prop 478, go to ParticipatePrescott.com.
