The Tucson City Council has launched a process to annex about 600 south-side homes near South Alvernon Way and East Valencia Road.
The city will ask property owners in the 10-year-old, 174-acre Valencia Reserve neighborhood to sign a petition saying they want to live within the city limits. It has one year to collect about 310 signatures to complete the process.
Residents may want to sign to get quicker emergency services, city trash services and “a vote and a voice in city elections,” said Mike Czechowski, annexation project manager.
A Tucson Fire Department station is in the neighborhood and was built “in anticipation of growth and annexation in this area,” he said.
Adding the area to the city would bring an estimated $553,000 of new revenue in the first full year, mostly from state-shared revenue, which is a per-capita tax distributed to cities and towns from state income taxes.
On the expense side, the city says it would cover all city services for the neighborhood using existing staff and resources. One capital cost would be maintaining the neighborhood streets.
Harry Clyde, secretary of the Valencia Reserve Homeowners Association and a 10-year resident, said it could be hard to get homeowners on board.
“I see nothing to gain. I think all you want is our tax money,” he told the City Council on Tuesday.
Each homeowner must now contract with a waste contractor for trash pickup and with Rural Metro for emergency services.
“Most of us have a pretty strong feeling that we don’t want to be part of the city, but it’s up to the individual homeowners to make that decision,” Clyde said.
HOA fees in the neighborhood pay for parks, landscaping, walking paths, some security and sidewalk repairs.
