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Resident urges Nogales council to address public-safety pay, warns city risks losing officers
Summary
A longtime resident told the Nogales City Council that local recruitment and retention of police and firefighters are threatened by pay levels and urged the council to consider new revenue options tied to sales tax receipts.
Marcelino Barona, a resident who identified himself as Marcelino Barona Jr. of 826 North Linda Vista Drive, told the Nogales City Council on June 24 that ongoing pay levels for public safety risk driving officers and firefighters away.
Barona said he helped lead a past campaign that raised the city sales tax by 0.25 percentage point and noted that “the sales tax is what keeps this community alive.” He warned council members that outside agencies are recruiting locally and that Nogales could lose personnel who were paid to be trained locally: “If they’re having a problem and they’re trying to take the people that you have already paid several thousands of dollars to train…we need to do something to make sure that this doesn’t become a revolving door,” he said.
Barona pointed to vehicle and pedestrian cross‑border traffic data for January–April 2025, citing figures he said showed 3,400,000 total crossings, a 2.1% decline from the prior comparable period, and noted sales-tax reliance on cross-border shoppers. He also asked the council to reconsider enterprise fund balances for utilities and to expand parks and recreation for children.
The remarks occurred during the meeting’s public-comment period and did not include a council response on the record beyond acknowledgment of his remarks.
Barona concluded by asking the council to “consider that” and left to attend another commitment.
