SCW Fire looks at annexing 7 parcels

The Sun City West Fire District is exploring an expansion to include land north and east of its boundaries, a move a consultant said would benefit the agency financially.

John Flynn, a consultant with the Scottsdale-based government affairs and consulting firm PolicyLogic, gave an in-depth presentation at a governing board workshop meeting Tuesday, where he advised the board to annex all seven parcels of land the district is considering.

Flynn was hired about six months ago to determine if the land, much of which is still undeveloped, would be an asset to the district.

Flynn provided a conservative estimate of property tax revenues based on continuing economic trends as well as a worst-case scenario estimate if there's zero new development on the parcels. In both cases, Flynn said he found the annexation would bring the district revenue.

"Because you're surrounded by two municipalities, there's only a limited amount of property in which to expand to. But the property to expand to, because it is projected to have over 16,000 housing units and 4.6 million square feet of commercial property with the 303 loop running through, that will end up being very, very valuable sometime in the future," he said. "If you were to take all that property in, that will sustain the fire district of Sun City West well into the future and will actually become more and more a percentage of carrying the tax burden."

Flynn estimated based on current housing trends as well as Census Bureau information, that about 550 single-family homes would likely be built on the land in the next five years. In addition, he estimated about 4.6 million square feet of commercial development could be built on the parcels. By 2013 the annexation would yield about $8.74 million in property tax revenues for the district, he said.

If the district annexed the land by 2009 and there is no new development in the next five years, Flynn said the district would still collect $5.7 million in property tax revenues.

"If you annexed (all seven areas) and they had not a stick of development...whatever commercial is operating on that property right now, and there are residential homes in that area already. In 2009, you've got $1.1 million in revenue at your current tax rate," he said.

The district would likely cover the new areas using a temporary station but may look toward using the revenues collected from the annexed areas to build a new station if the areas become populated enough in the next five years, Flynn said.

Deputy Chief Jim Heger said he has received favorable responses to questionnaires the district sent out to residents of the unincorporated areas, indicating the 51 percent vote needed to become part of the district would be attainable.

"I got dozens of calls back on that and not one was opposed to us annexing them," he said. "I had one (person) say, ‘you send me the petitions and I'll have the signatures for you.' So it's been an extremely positive response."

The board made no decisions regarding the annexation and will discuss the matter further.

The board will have its regular meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday at the district administrative office, 18818 N. Spanish Garden Drive.

The district serves 25 square miles and about 40,000 residents in the communities of Sun City West, Coldwater Ranch, Corte Bella, Cross River, Dos Rios, Rancho Cabrillo, Rancho Silverado, Rio Sierra and other unincorporated areas of Maricopa County. The cash value of all the property the district covers is about $4.8 billion, Flynn said.