Arizona Cities Will Pay a Price for Ignoring Homelessness
Residents can apply for property-tax refunds when officials refuse to enforce public-nuisance laws.
By Victor Riches, WSJ
Nov. 22, 2024 2:45 pm ET
Amid the excitement of this year’s elections, something profound happened in Arizona that could change how cities across the country address homelessness.
Arizona voters overwhelmingly adopted Proposition 312, a first-of-its-kind law that requires local governments to compensate property and business owners for damage created by the homelessness crisis plaguing many cities. Approved by nearly 60% of voters, the measure holds government officials accountable for refusing to enforce laws against crimes related to homelessness, including vandalism, public urination and drug use.
For too long, municipalities have gotten away with taxing residents indiscriminately and not providing the public-safety services those taxes are supposed to fund. Proposition 312 provides a simple mechanism for residents to get their tax dollars back when the government fails in its most basic duties.
City officials in Phoenix, Arizona’s largest city, have spent years shunting the homeless population into a downtown area that infamously became known as “the Zone.” The city reportedly instructed police officers to leave the Zone alone—not to enforce the law there. As a result it became one of the nation’s largest homeless encampments. For years it has been a chaotic den of panhandling, violent crime and destruction.
Property values plummeted in the Zone. Small businesses suffered. People lost their livelihoods as dozens of business owners had no choice but to close up shop. And even as the city spent over $180 million to address the crisis (only a fraction of which is publicly accounted for), the number of homeless people in Phoenix rose 92% between 2018 and 2023.
This type of government malfeasance isn’t limited to Arizona. In California, decades of reckless progressive policies have turned swaths of once-thriving cities into wastelands. The refusal of district attorneys to prosecute crimes allowed lawbreakers to roam free, unhindered by the fear of punishment. Meanwhile, residents struggle under high taxes and crushing regulations. In fact, California has spent $24 billion on its homelessness crisis over the past five years only to see the homeless population increase by about 20%.
Taxpayers deserve better. Proposition 312 offers a different path—one where law-abiding citizens aren’t forced to pay the price when politicians and bureaucrats refuse to do their jobs. Over the summer, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down what the Journal called a “judge-made right to vagrancy,” ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson that it isn’t unconstitutional for cities to enforce laws against public camping. Cities across the country now have no excuse not to clean up their streets. But when they refuse to do so, residents can force action on crimes related to homelessness.
That’s what happened in Phoenix, where property and business owners in the Zone sued the city for maintaining a public nuisance. Last year a state court judge ordered the city to clear the Zone. Then Arizonans passed Proposition 312 to stop any future mayor and City Council from recreating the Zone or anything like it.
Even Californians are fed up with government officials who don’t enforce the law. Voters statewide approved Proposition 36, which allows felony charges and increases sentences for certain drug and theft crimes, while Los Angeles and Alameda counties both voted out soft-on-crime prosecutors. It seems Californians and Arizonans alike are sick and tired of politicians who fail to do the jobs they were elected to do.
Proposition 312 should be a wake-up call for elected officials forcing law-abiding businesses and residents to pay the price for a crisis they didn’t create. The message to politicians couldn’t be clearer: Do your job. Enough is enough.
Mr. Riches is president and CEO of the Goldwater Institute, which designed Proposition 312.
Comments