Cities Penalize Retailers for their Own Stolen Property
While some legislators are working to keep California-style policies out of Arizona, corrupt municipal leaders in cities such as Phoenix and Tucson clearly haven’t gotten the memo. For years, these cities have subjected businesses to an unfair fee for their own shopping carts being stolen. Rather than targeting theft, homelessness, or law enforcement strategies, this policy shifts blame onto retailers, effectively punishing the victims. A classic California-esque idea infecting our Arizona cities.
Representative Nick Kupper introduced HB2460 this legislative session to combat this insanity and introduce some common sense. This bill prevents local governments from fining retailers over abandoned movable property, such as shopping carts and handheld baskets. Retailers already lose money from cart theft; charging them to reclaim their own stolen property is ridiculous.
This type of policy is the definition of “California-ing Arizona.” California has regulated abandoned shopping carts for decades, with state law dating back to 1992 authorizing cities to penalize retailers when carts are not retrieved from public spaces. Tucson and Phoenix are now following in those footsteps. Arizona law ARS 44-1799.33 already establishes procedures for dealing with abandoned shopping carts, including notice to the owner, impoundment, cost recovery, and eventual disposal if the cart is not retrieved, without automatically penalizing retailers.
Arizona should be a state that prioritizes accountability and property rights, but these cities seem intent on breaking that mold.
Tucson started back in 2013 when the city council approved an ordinance requiring retailers to retrieve abandoned shopping carts that end up off of their property. If they fail to pick up a cart within three days after notification, the city impounds it and charges the retailer a $30 retrieval fee. After 30 days, the fee is automatically added to the company’s water bill, and the cart is either sold or discarded. Retailers bear the burden after their property has already been stolen.
Phoenix has an even longer history of penalizing retailers through its Abandoned Shopping Cart Retrieval Program, first authorized as a pilot in 2005 and officially established in 2007. The program charges retailers a fee when city crews collect carts found off-site. Over the years, the fees have increased from $20 in 2007 to $50 by 2017, supposedly to “incentivize better management” of their property. Just this year, the city expanded its approach with a new ordinance requiring annual retailer certification, management plans, and higher penalties for non-compliance.
While Phoenix and Tucson have some of the longest histories with this bad policy, other Arizona cities including Avondale (2020), Glendale (2023), Maricopa (2022), and Peoria (2008) have adopted similar shopping cart ordinances. Whether through retrieval fees, regulatory requirements, or mandated anti-theft measures, the trend reflects a growing statewide shift toward placing increased responsibility on retailers for cart loss and abandonment.
Cities defend these policies by arguing that abandoned shopping carts impose public costs: blocked sidewalks, poor aesthetics, and cleanup time. Framing the policy as cost recovery rather than punishment, they claim retailers are best positioned to prevent loss through management systems or retrieval services.
During the committee hearing on HB2460, a representative of the City of Phoenix even argued that enforcing the law against thieves would be problematic because retailers would be prosecuting their customers. Last I checked, people who steal carts are not law-abiding citizens merely buying groceries, they’re criminals. In that same discussion, a Democrat lawmaker claimed that preventing cities from imposing these fines would be government overreach. It truly feels like we are living in an upside-down world.
But there is no good rationale for these ordinances. If theft is the problem, why not prioritize enforcement and deterrence? Shifting the burden onto retailers normalizes the crime and encourages continued bad behavior. Why would it ever stop if the guilty never face repercussions?
These unjust ordinances are the gateway to further punishment of the innocent while the guilty walk free. It starts with shopping carts, then Arizona will go full-blown California and allow squatters to take over homes and punish the rightful property owners.
HB2460 is necessary to protect retailers from being fined for retrieving their own stolen property. This shouldn’t even be a debate. In America, your property is yours, and those who steal it should face consequences, not the victims of the theft. That is justice. The bill passed the Arizona House in late February on a party-line vote and now heads to the Senate. We encourage the Senate and the governor to move quickly to pass and sign the measure to reaffirm basic property rights and ensure businesses are not punished for crimes committed by others and reject the creeping wave of California-style policies before they take deeper root in our state.
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