Queen Creek shoppers pay a town tax of 2.25% on groceries, according to the Arizona Department of Revenue. A measure on the Nov. 3 ballot would leave that rate where it is for good and put new limits on any future change.
Proposition 316, referred to voters by the Legislature, would bar cities and towns from adopting a grocery tax or raising an existing one without voter approval, and would cap any new or increased rate at 2%. Towns already above 2% would have their rates frozen, with no route to raise them, even through a local election.
That puts Queen Creek, at 2.25% on food for home consumption, among the places the freeze would reach. The state revenue department lists the town's general retail rate at the same 2.25%. Nearby, Gilbert taxes groceries at 2% and Chandler at 1.5%, according to the department's city profiles. Mesa, Phoenix and Tucson do not tax groceries at all.
The state itself no longer taxes groceries, but local governments kept the power to levy their own tax. The Department of Revenue counted 70 of the state's 91 incorporated cities and towns taxing food for home use in 2024, according to Ballotpedia.
The case for it
State Rep. Leo Biasiucci, the Republican who sponsored the measure, told Arizona Horizon it is aimed at basics such as bread, milk and eggs. "If you're a local jurisdiction, you have this tax, we're freezing it," he said. "And then anything moving forward can never be more than 2% if you go to the ballot at the local level."
Supporters say families squeezed by higher food prices should get a say before any local increase.
The case against it
Opponents, including the Legislative District 10 Democrats, call it state interference in local budgets. They argue that communities differ: a city with no grocery tax would see no change at the register, while small towns that lean heavily on food tax revenue, especially those without local property taxes, would lose flexibility.
Rep. Anastasia Travers, a Democrat, said during the legislative debate that rural areas would be hit hardest. Some Democrats who voted no, such as Rep. Alma Hernandez, said they oppose taxing food at all and felt the measure did not go far enough.
