By james art 
Gilbert, AZ: Historic downtown and growing arts district
Built on citrus production, Gilbert, Arizona has become a growing metro Phoenix community with economic opportunities and a vibrant arts district.
The Republic
Gilbert City Council will vote Tuesday to increase the sales tax and bed tax for the first time in 24 years.
If passed, the rate increase would take effect on January 1.
The city is proposing a 0.5 percent sales tax and a 2.2 percent bed tax increase over current rates. Adding 0.5% to the sales tax would bring that tax to 2%, putting Gilbert in line with Mesa’s rates but below rates in Glendale, Goodyear and Phoenix.
The tax increase will help pay for more than $700 million in city projects, adding $55 million to the city’s annual revenue. The revenue collected from the bed tax is limited to tourism-related purposes.
According to the city, the total impact of every $100 spent is estimated to be about $0.50.
Kelly Pfost, the city’s management and budget director, wrote in a memo to the council that funding opportunities for needed infrastructure are “limited and recent state law cuts have further eroded some of Gilbert’s revenue streams.”
In 2023, Gov. Katie Hobbs banned the collection of a tax on residential rents, which dealt a blow to city budgets.
Unlike most other cities in the Valley, which need voter approval to raise taxes, Gilbert’s council members can make the change themselves because the city is not a chartered city.
How the new revenue will be used
Staff has identified 23 parks and public safety projects they believe are critical.
Gilbert wants to build a crime lab to analyze evidence collected at crime scenes. The city currently uses Mesa’s lab for its forensic evidence.
“This pattern is considered a risk to the future provision of services and the prioritization of Gilbert’s cases,” Pfost wrote in the memo.
Staff also say the city is running out of office space for police officers and is proposing building a new substation and expanding an existing one.
“To accommodate the current staff, closets have been converted into offices and locker rooms have been created from conference rooms,” she wrote.
Renovations to several of Gilbert’s fire and rescue stations will also be funded by the tax increases.
Park projects make up the bulk of the list the city aims to expand and update.
Pfost wrote that Gilbert parks received more than 5.3 million annual visits and were “oversubscribed,” requiring expansion to meet resident demand.
Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek and can be reached at [email protected] or 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @maritzacdom.