Sahuarita in no hurry to embrace secession

Sahuarita officials are curious about a proposal to have Sahuarita secede from Pima County and annex to Santa Cruz County, along with Green Valley, but several have noted some difficulties such a course of action might face.

The trial balloon was made public last week by former state representative Randy Graf of Green Valley and Sahuarita resident Dave Verwys, an independent filmmaker and former official of the Chamber of Commerce in Tubac, which is located in Santa Cruz County.

Mayor Lynne Skelton said, “At this point, I haven’t heard their plan, and don’t know anything at all about this. I have more questions than comments. It’s surprising that it’s coming at this point without a buildup” of underlying concerns.

The mayor said she’d be happy to chat with Graf and Verwys and that her interest in discussion would be finding out how it would affect the community and what the purpose is.

“No way” was the succinct response of Sahuarita Unified School District Governing Board member Martin McGee, whose rural McGee Ranch neighborhood is not usually considered a bastion of support for Pima County government.

“They think we would get more (services) — afraid not,” McGee said. “All counties are stretched to the limits. Santa Cruz is overstretched and has very few services. When everyone would want more, they to would need to raise the tax to provide more services and it would come very fast, because we would expect to have what we have now and more. Taxes will always go up as we continue to want more.”

Sahuarita School Superintendent Jay St. John said: “The proposed secession from Pima County would be problematic for school districts as there are no districts in Arizona that cross county lines. Any redrawing of the county line would have to follow school district boundaries. All school districts are tied financially to counties, as state funds flow through county treasurers and county school superintendents.”

Graf has said changing counties would offer homeowners relief from Pima County’s property tax rate, the highest in the state, and would make the Sahuarita-Green Valley area, with about 47,000 residents, a force to be reckoned with in tiny Santa Cruz County, which has only about 40,000 residents, compared to about 1 million in Pima County. Graf says Pima County does not give the local area the services it deserves in return for the taxes it pays. However, Pima County does not levy a county sales tax, other than the half-cent RTA tax, whereas Santa Cruz County does have a county sales tax, so businesses might think twice about a switch.

Some question whether Santa Cruz County could provide the level of services expected by Sahuarita and Green Valley residents, who are expecting major benefits from the RTA (Regional Transportation Authority), Pima County bond projects and the Pima County Library in the form of Sahuarita Road expansion and bike lanes, an Anamax Park recreation center and possible pool, a planned temporary library branch in Sahuarita and a proposed permanent branch.

Vice Mayor Phillip Conklin, who lives in Quail Creek, said he’s open to new ideas, but noted that his neighborhood and much of southern Sahuarita is served by a Pima County wastewater treatment plant in Green Valley.

Town Manager Jim Stahle laughed and said, “It’s an interesting idea, but we’d have to have more details before we could comment in depth.”

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738