Flagstaff voters just under two months from now will be confronted with two propositions on the same ballot, one of which of which is calling for up to $40 billion in funding for a wide variety of public facility construction.
While Proposition 404 confines itself to increasing the city’s sales tax, otherwise known as the Transaction Privilege Tax, by 0.5%, it is Proposition 405 that centers on building and infrastructure projects.
Extensively debated earlier this year by members of the Flagstaff City Council before being put on this year’s mid-term election ballot, Proposition 405 will fund the construction of a new and long hoped-for wildland fire station and training facility.
That project has already received some $4 million in grant support from the State of Arizona and is expected to go up off Route 66 just to the south of the Picture Canyon Natural and Cultural Preserve.
The $40 billion is also slated to fund construction of a new fire station near J.W. Powell Boulevard on the south side of the city.
An additional project will see the expansion of facility space at the Flagstaff Police Department, located at 911 E. Sawmill Road.
Flagstaff voters have generally been supportive of bond proposals, approving a $20 million general obligation bond in November of 2022 to be used for affordable housing efforts.
But in an overwhelming nearly two-to-one result in 2010 they rejected a $65 million bond designed to build a new city courthouse.
September 17, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
