The Pima County Board of Supervisors has approved a $250M 10-year plan to address affordable housing.
The plan will be implemented in the fiscal budget for 2026-2027 and will invest a minimum of $200M over 10 years in addition to the $5M the Board has included in the budget since 2022.
The plan’s architect, Supervisor Matt Heinz, said the measure was “a bold step” but “not nearly enough,” given the current state of affordable housing. The measure passed on a 3-2 vote.
The plan will have the County consider a possible yearly increase of up to $0.03 on the primary property tax rate above the allocation from the previous year. Money will then be directed to the County’s affordable housing fund. The County Administrator may also use a combination of revenue sources to ensure an annual goal of $20M is met.
A housing study contracted by the Board in 2024 found Pima will need nearly 38,600 more affordable housing units over the next 10 years. Over the next 20 years, the county will need another 116,000 housing units.
Heinz’s proposal found the County is currently short 21,700 units, which includes 8,000 units to address homelessness and 13,700 needed to rectify underproduction.
The newly approved measure should bring in enough funding for 12,500 units, according to Heinz.
The “no” votes were cast by Steve Christy and Rex Scott. Christy opposed the proposal because it implemented a 10-year plan without any public input or hearings. Scott wanted to wait to vote on a funding source until a draft plan from the Regional Affordable Housing Commission is released in November.
The Board has approved $5M annually since FY 2022-2023 for affordable housing appropriations. Heinz requested the upcoming fiscal year’s amount be increased to $8.5M, using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The Board approved his request 4-1, with Christy casting the “no” vote.
Final budget approval for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, is expected June 17. (Source)