Rebuff San Tan Valley effort, Apache Junction urges
by Lindsey Collom – Jun. 20, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Apache Junction wants neighboring cities and towns to reject a proposal that would allow the community of San Tan Valley to incorporate in northeast Pinal County.
“I see (incorporation) as being one of the single, largest known financial threats to our ability to provide services to our community,” City Manager George Hoffman told council members last week before they adopted a resolution asking that surrounding cities oppose San Tan Valley’s bid.
Other Pinal County communities, particularly Coolidge and Florence, have also expressed concerns that the incorporation would dilute the amount of state-shared revenue they receive, a hit that would be hard to absorb during lean budget times.
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns recently issued figures showing how a San Tan Valley incorporation would affect shared revenues in the coming fiscal year: Apache Junction would lose $1.6 million; Casa Grande, more than $1.5 million; and Florence, about $1 million.
All 91 cities and towns in Arizona would get less shared revenue, but Pinal County communities would be hardest hit because they would also stand to lose a share of Highway User Revenue Funds. Shared revenues are a percentage of state individual and corporate income-tax collections that are distributed to Arizona cities and towns based on population.
San Tan Valley residents – as well as unincorporated residents throughout the state – pay into that shared-revenue pot but do not currently reap the benefits, said Randy Lockner, chairman of Citizens for San Tan Valley Incorporation, a political-action committee behind the incorporation effort.
Lockner called the resolution a “very shortsighted” and “small-minded evaluation of our situation.”
“There are other ways . . . to engage in constructive dialogue to resolve issues, and I would have appreciated the opportunity to have that dialogue directly,” Lockner said. “Instead, this is now in our estimation an aggressive move on the part of our neighbors to squelch the voice of 80,000 residents.”
Apache Junction doesn’t have a legal say in whether San Tan Valley can incorporate. State law requires incorporation backers to gain support from cities and towns within 6 miles of the proposed municipality for the issue to move forward. Mesa has already given its blessing to Lockner’s group. Gilbert, Queen Creek and Florence are expected to formally take up the issue in July.
In addition to the municipalities’ approval, incorporation proponents need signatures from 10 percent of registered voters in San Tan Valley. More than 2,500 of the necessary 3,000 already have been obtained. Supporters have been circulating petitions since March and will continue at least through this month.
San Tan Valley stretches from the alignment of Queen Creek Road south almost to Florence. It includes rapidly growing areas such as Johnson Ranch, San Tan Heights and Copper Basin, most of which straddle Hunt Highway. About 80,000 people live there, which would make it the largest city in Pinal County and push it past other Valley communities such as Avondale and Goodyear.
Apache Junction Mayor John Insalaco said in a recent opinion piece that his city isn’t saying yes or no to incorporation. “We’re just saying, please, not now,” he wrote. “Let us get back on our feet financially and then have an incorporation vote.”
Insalaco has sent letters urging solidarity to all Pinal County mayors and said he’s received positive feedback.
“Not too many cities are happy with them incorporating now,” Insalaco said. “If we let it go to a vote, will it pass? I don’t think we’ll take that chance. That $1.6 million won’t kill us, but it’s going to hurt.”