Hello all,

After the enactment of SB1102 last Monday, the Legislature ended a very lengthy 2023 legislative session. SB1102 provides Maricopa County the authority to take to its voters an extension of the regional one-half cent transportation sales tax which is set to expire after 2025. A loss of this revenue would have created a gaping hole in future revenues for statewide transportation infrastructure which is already substantially under-funded. The authorized extension is projected to provide $15B to the region over twenty years with 40.5% dedicated to freeways, 37% to transit and 22.5% to arterial roads. While the extension will still need to pass at the ballot, the public appears to appreciate the level of need as it's currently polling 68% of likely voters to support.

A failure to extend would have grave consequences for the ability of the region's infrastructure to function and would also place a tremendous strain on remaining transportation revenue sources mostly shared statewide, jeopardizing the levels of future funding available to all of the State including Greater Arizona.

The passage of SB1102, which was quickly signed by the Governor, caps off a successful legislative year for transportation. Previously in early May, the state budget was enacted and over $650M in one-time revenues were directed to transportation for pavement rehabilitation, the SMART Fund, I-10, I-17, and a multitude of projects across the State.

While lawmakers have proactively directed further investment into the infrastructure the last couple of years, the revenue to needs gap continues to grow reinforcing the need to increase the permanent revenue streams that are dedicated to transportation so that long-term assured revenues are more closely aligned with needs. The attached issue brief provides an update on how the revenue/needs gap is currently trending.

RTAC Transportation Revenue/Needs Assessment