Ballot Math / Statewide / Prop 316

Ballot measure: Statewide, referred statute

Proposition 316: Cap city grocery taxes at 2 percent

Officially: Proposition 316, HCR 2021 (2025). "Retroactively prohibits local governments from adopting or increasing a tax on groceries without voter approval and sets a maximum rate of 2%." Sponsored by Rep. Leo Biasiucci. A similar bill passed the Legislature in 2023 and was vetoed by Gov. Hobbs, which is why it reached you as a referral instead.

In one sentence: cities could no longer raise a tax on your groceries, or start one, without asking voters first, and the rate could never exceed 2 percent. It does not lower any grocery tax you pay today.

What it does

Arizona itself does not tax groceries. About 70 of the state's 91 cities do tax food for home consumption, each at its own rate; Phoenix, Mesa, and Tucson do not. Prop 316 amends the statute to:

  • Retroactively bar any city from adopting or increasing a grocery tax from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027.
  • After that window, require voter approval for any new grocery tax or any increase, and cap the rate at 2 percent of the purchase price.
  • Freeze cities already above 2 percent at their current rate. They keep it, but can never raise it.

Restaurant meals are not groceries for this purpose and are unaffected.

The math for your household, Chandler edition

Chandler taxes groceries at 1.5 percent, about $216 a year on $1,200 a month of groceries.

Chandler collected about $12.27 million from its grocery tax in calendar 2025, and over $16 million in fiscal 2025-26, per Mayor Kevin Hartke, who calls it a primary revenue source for police, infrastructure, and water, and has noted a future council could raise it to 2 percent. Under Prop 316, Chandler's 1.5 percent stays exactly where it is. What changes: raising it, even to the 2 percent cap, would require a vote of the people instead of a council vote. If you shop in Phoenix or Mesa, you already pay no city grocery tax, and this measure changes nothing for you at those stores.

A YES vote

The cap and the voter-approval requirement become law, retroactive to July 1, 2025. No city grocery tax goes up, or starts, without an election.

A NO vote

City councils keep their current authority to set, raise, or repeal grocery taxes by council vote, at any rate.

The strongest case for YES

  • Food is not a luxury. A tax on groceries is paid on necessities, and it takes the largest share from the households with the least margin.
  • Consent for increases. The measure does not abolish the tax. It says a city that wants more of it must convince voters, the same standard Arizona applies to bonds and overrides.
  • The retroactive window prevents a rush. Without it, councils could raise rates between the vote and the effective date.

The strongest case for NO

  • It is real city money. In Chandler alone the grocery tax is $12 to $16 million a year for police, water, and streets. Capping the growth of one revenue source pushes cities toward others, including property taxes and fees that need no vote at all.
  • Local control. Grocery taxes are set by elected councils that voters can replace. A state-level cap overrides 91 different local decisions with one rule.
  • It does not cut anyone's bill. Voters who expect relief at the register will not get any from a yes vote; rates stay where they are.

The fine print

  • The single most common misunderstanding of this measure: a yes is not a tax cut. It is a cap plus a consent requirement. Every existing rate survives.
  • Cities above 2 percent keep their higher rate forever, frozen. The cap binds the low-tax cities' future councils more than the high-tax cities' current ones.
  • Gov. Hobbs vetoed the statutory version in 2023 (SB 1063) citing city warnings of service cuts and property tax increases. That veto is why this is on your ballot, and her reasoning is the core of the no case.

How to vote without getting your ballot rejected

  • Mail it by Tuesday, October 27, 2026. After that day, do not mail it: use a drop box or a vote center.
  • It must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Postmarks do not count.
  • Sign and date the affidavit envelope, and write a current phone number on it. If your signature is questioned, the county will try to reach you to fix it.
  • Leaving any item blank is allowed. It does not affect the rest of your ballot.

Sources

Ballot Math: analysis only, no endorsements. Read the official ballot language yourself; it is linked above because we want you to check us. Back to Ballot Math home.