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Sponsor proposes permanent 1% sales tax to fund infrastructure, housing and behavioral-health projects
Summary
A proposed charter amendment (AO 2025-96), dubbed "Penny for Progress," would create a permanent, voter-approved 1% sales tax with three dedicated buckets— infrastructure, a workforce housing trust and behavioral-health stabilization—plus citizen oversight and five-year program reviews.
A sponsor presented AO 2025-96 on Oct. 2 proposing a charter amendment to establish a permanent 1% sales tax—branded "Penny for Progress"—dedicated to three distinct funding buckets: infrastructure investments, a workforce housing trust, and behavioral-health stabilization and supportive facilities.
The sponsor said the measure is structured as a flat 1% sales tax with only state-mandated exemptions and would be a charter change requiring eight assembly votes to place on the ballot and a simple majority of voters to approve. The presentation characterized the proposal as data-driven and intended to fund visibly trackable projects, including roads, sidewalks, snow management and utilities in priority corridors; housing projects to advance the administration's housing goals; and stabilization and supportive services aimed at reducing long-term emergency-service costs.
The sponsor cited revenue modeling that matched prior analyses of sales-tax revenue, noting a rough estimate of about $60 million in annual revenue per 1% of sales tax and a visitor/nonresident contribution of roughly 30 percent of the pool. The presentation described permanent governance features: a citizen oversight committee, a public dashboard, a five-year program review and an amendment pathway that would return changes in the bucket structure to voters rather than allow reallocation by the assembly or a future mayor.
Committee members asked for further economic analysis and implementation details, including the revenue impact of removing a per-transaction cap; clarification of the oversight committee's scope (advisory versus decision-making); prioritization across the three buckets if funds are insufficient to address all needs simultaneously; and whether sponsors were coordinating with external coalitions for outreach or ballot campaigns. The sponsor said more financial modeling and messaging materials would be provided ahead of a scheduled public hearing Oct. 21.
No formal assembly action was taken at the committee meeting. The item is scheduled for public hearing, and committee members were advised that the charter-amendment process requires an eight-vote supermajority of the assembly to place the measure on the ballot.
