Another end-run by Arizona State Legislators late Friday afternoon . . . Don'tcha just love these guys??
Update
Mary Jo Pitzl, The Republic | azcentral.com
Maricopa County Special Taxing Districts
Update
Mary Jo Pitzl, The Republic | azcentral.com
The governor vetoed a bill that would have allowed more aggressive use of special taxing districts to pay for infrastructure
Maricopa County Special Taxing Districts
Maricopa County has more than 90 active Special Taxing Districts. The Office of the Clerk of the Board is responsible for facilitating, monitoring and assisting with fulfilling the statutory requirements involved with the following activities: formations, boundary changes, dissolutions, annual reports, annual budgets, levies, board elections, etc.
Special Taxing Districts are established pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 48, as political subdivisions of the state and are governed by an elected board. Additional statutory information can be found at the Arizona Legislature website
The Arizona League of Cities & Towns opposed HB2568. Its final form applies only to districts formed after the effective date of this Act rushed to get signed by the governor . . and some cities like Mesa made moves to annex lands ahead of time. There's more to these hanky-pinky antics that other media can dig into, but the action is a done deal.
Summary: HB 2568 states that community facilities district may be formed if the land involved is 600 acres or more, and all the landowners sign the formation petition. It declares indemnification for the local government, but does not allow for the land to be held for security, nor does it allow for the landowners’ financial ability for repayment to be revealed.
League Position: OPPOSE - The League opposes this bill because it essentially eliminates a municipality's input over the formation and governance of a CFD.
(Click for bill language and additional information)
Sponsor: Rep. Gowan
Sponsor: Rep. Gowan
HB2568: community facilities districts; formation; governance
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First of all, here's the entire bill approved and signed by the governor
House of Representatives
HB 2568
community facilities districts; formation; governance
Prime Sponsor: Representative Gowan, LD 14
Overview
HB 2568 modifies procedures to form a community facilities district and the makeup of the district board.
Provisions
1. Requires the governing body of a municipality or county, upon receipt of a petition from all owners of land in a district that exceeds 600 acres, to adopt a resolution declaring its intention to form a community facilities district to include contiguous and noncontiguous land that is completely within the corporate boundaries of the municipality or county.
a. Stipulates noncontiguous property must be under common ownership and served by common infrastructure.
2. Requires the landowners to provide the governing body with an indemnification agreement, exempting the governing body and its agents, consultants, officers and employees from all liabilities.
a. Stipulates the indemnification agreement is to establish a general obligation of the owners of the land and cannot be secured by the land and must be accepted without reference to the owners’ financial ability to make repayment.
3. Stipulates that all properties included in a district, formed by a county, must meet the following requirements:
a. Zoning must allow development of more than one residential dwelling per acre.
b. The property must be included within the planning area of a municipality, the land use of a municipality’s general plan or be located immediately adjacent to the municipality.
c. The property must be the subject of a specific plan, a planned area development or a development agreement that is approved by the county.
4. Requires a district board to provide a report relating to project approvals and hold a public hearing within 60 days after receiving the report.
a. Stipulates that a district board has 60 days after the public hearing to reject, amend or approve the report.
5. Establishes the membership of the district board of directors to include two members selected by the governing body, two members selected by landowner’s who own at least 25 acres in the district and one member selected by the governing body from a list provided by the landowners.
6. Prohibits a director of the board from being a landowner in the district.
7. Requires all directors selected by or submitted by the landowners in the district to have expertise in real estate, engineering, land planning, construction, law, finance or a related field.
8. Permits a member of community facilities district board directors to be a director for more than one district.
9. Allows landowner in a district formed prior to this Act to submit a petition to restructure the district board.
a. Requires a governing body to make a determination within 90 days after receiving the petition.
10. Requires an ad valorem tax levy election notice to include the levy limit.
11. Requires, for districts formed after the effective date of this Act, the bond question to include authorization for an ad valorem tax levy to pay debt service on the bonds and a limit on that tax levy.
12. Requires a bond ballot to ask for authorization to levy a property tax and include a property tax levy limit, if the District is formed after the effective date of this Act.
13. Permits the Board, when determining the annual assessment, to limit the tax rate or the amount of property tax dollars that it is obligated to levy or collect, provided it is within the voter-authorized property tax’s limit.
14. Requires a district board to adopt a resolution that includes the nature and timing of the issuance of bonds, if any.
a. Requires a district board to execute the provisions of the report within the time frames identified in the approved report.
15. Requires the governing body to complete and approve their review of an engineer’s certification of a discrete segment of public infrastructure within stipulated time frames and must adopt and accept the certified discrete segment of public infrastructure, unless authorized by a previous development agreement before the effective date of this section.
16. Requires property owners of Districts, formed by a county before the effective date of this Act, to provide the county an agreement on surface maintenance of public roadways to be financed by the District.
a. Stipulates the agreement is to be provided by the owner with the first final plat submitted to the county.
b. Requires the owner to maintain the public roadways to the standards by which the county maintains similar roadways.
c. Terminates the agreement if a new funding source dedicated to roadway maintenance within the county is approved or if the property is annexed by a city or town.
17. Requires property owners of Districts formed by a county, before the effective date of this Act, to meet the stipulated county land requirements to provide the county an agreement on the provision of law enforcement services to District properties, unless previously authorized by a prior development agreement.
a. Terminates the law enforcement agreement if the county approves a new funding source for law enforcement services or if the property within the District is annexed by a city or town.
18. Applies only to districts formed after the effective date of this Act.
19. Requires the District to provide DOR an annual continuing disclosure report relating to the District’s bond and financial status, no later than February 1.
20. Makes technical and conforming changes.
Current Law
A.R.S. Title 48, Chapter 4, Article 6 establishes community facilities districts for the purposes of entering into contracts and expending monies for any public infrastructure purpose within the district. To form a community facilities district a petition must be signed by 25% of the land area proposed to be included in the district. Upon receipt of a petition the governing body of the county or municipality may adopt a resolution declaring its intention to form the district. A resolution ordering formation of the district must state whether the district will be governed by a district board comprised of members of the governing body, ex officio or for districts that exceed 600 acres five directors appointed by the governing body.
---------- DOCUMENT FOOTER ---------
Fifty-second Legislature
Second Regular Session 2 As Transmitted to the Governor
Information source: http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=2568&Session_Id=115
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(Click for bill language and additional information)
Sponsor: Rep. Gowan
Summary: HB 2568 states that community facilities district may be formed if the land involved is 600 acres or more, and all the landowners sign the formation petition. It declares indemnification for the local government, but does not allow for the land to be held for security, nor does it allow for the landowners’ financial ability for repayment to be revealed.
Sponsor: Rep. Gowan
Summary: HB 2568 states that community facilities district may be formed if the land involved is 600 acres or more, and all the landowners sign the formation petition. It declares indemnification for the local government, but does not allow for the land to be held for security, nor does it allow for the landowners’ financial ability for repayment to be revealed.
League Position: OPPOSE - The League opposes this bill because it essentially eliminates a municipality's input over the formation and governance of a CFD
The types of the more than 90 special taxing districts governed by Title 48 of the Arizona Revised Statutes in Maricopa County include:
- Fire Districts
- Community Park Maintenance District
- Power District
- Electrical Districts
- Sanitary District
- Agricultural Improvement District
- Drainage and Flood Protection Districts
- Irrigation and Water Conservation Districts
- Irrigation Water Delivery Districts
- Flood Control District
- Multi-County Water Conservation District
- Library District
- Stadium District
- Groundwater Replenishment District
- Special Health Care District
Maricopa County
Special Taxing Districts and Contacts (as of 04/13/2016)
Elections for Special Taxing Districts https://www.maricopa.gov/clk_board/SpecialDistricts.aspx#collapse-five-taxing
Special Taxing Districts follow most election statutes found in Title 16, with the exception of district-specific statutes in Title 48 that govern method of voting, posting notices, and election days and times. The following is a list of district types and the Election Day for each as determined per Title 48 statutes:
| DISTRICT TYPE | ELECTION DAY | STATUTE | ELECTION CALENDAR |
| Fire Districts | 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November | ARS 48-802 | Not Available |
| Community Parks Maintenance District | Specified in petition for establishment | ARS 48-1208 | Not Applicable |
| Power District | 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in December | ARS 48-1571 | POWER |
| Electrical Districts | 2nd Saturday in January | ARS 48-1742 | Not Available |
| Sanitary District | Specified in petition for establishment | ARS 48-2010 | SANI |
| Agricultural Improvement District | 1st Wednesday in October | ARS 48-2381 | Not Available |
| Flood Protection District | 1st Wednesday in October | ARS 48-2681 | FPD |
| Irrigation Water Conservation District | 2nd Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November | ARS 48-3011 | IWCD |
| Irrigation Water Delivery District | 3rd Wednesday in November | ARS 48-3444 | IWDD |
| Multi-County Water Conservation District | 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November | ARS 48-3709 | Not Available |
| Special Health Care District | 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November | ARS 48-5503 | Not Available |
Contacts & Resources
Office of the Clerk of the Board
Lori Medaris
Management Analyst
602-506-3417
602-506-3766 (Main Office)
Maricopa County Elections Department
Kristi Passarelli
Campaign Finance & Jurisdictional Manager
602-506-8344
Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office
Blair Bradshaw
Accounting Manager
602-506-6169
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