By Dustin Gardiner, The Republic | azcentral.com 2015
Phoenix shoppers’ grocery bills will got a bit lighter overnight.
Five years after its inception, the city’s emergency tax on food expired at midnight, meaning residents will spend about $1 less for every $100 of basic groceries.
The tax has been controversial since City Council members created it in early 2010 with little more than 24 hours’ public notice. At the time, they said Phoenix needed a temporary tax to help cover a record $277 million budget shortfall and avoid drastic service cuts.
The city estimates the tax collected $222.3 million over its lifetime. Residents paid the full 2-cent-per-dollar tax until Jan. 1, 2014, when the council reduced it to 1 cent.
