Plan to split Maricopa County appears dead

The bill was reviewed by lawmakers in committee but failed to get out of the House and has missed the deadline to be heard in Senate committees.

A legislative proposal to split Maricopa County into four appears dead after failing to make it to a vote, and after opposition from Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers.

In a letter Bowers sent to Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates earlier this month, the Republican speaker, who lives in Mesa, wrote that his primary concern with House Bill 2787 was the cost of the proposal, which would cause what he called a “massive tax increase” in the new county he would live in.

The supervisors had asked Bowers to weigh in on the future of the bill because they were concerned the proposal would create financial uncertainty as the county seeks to issue bonds to help reduce the county’s pension liability, according to a statement from the county. The bill was reviewed by lawmakers in committee but failed to get out of the House and has missed the deadline to be heard in Senate committees.

The supervisors oppose the bill, with Gates calling it an “attempt to grow government.” Supervisor Steve Gallardo, the lone Democrat on the board, believes the bill is an intentional attack on the county after a year of feuding between Republican state lawmakers over the results of the 2020 election.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, an ardent Donald Trump supporter who was one of 11 to sign a document declaring themselves part of a slate of fraudulent electors, in favor of Trump.

Hoffman has said that the bill wasn’t meant to politically target the county, but to reduce the size of the massive county and to improve representation in each area. Hoffman didn’t reply when The Arizona Republic asked about Bowers’ letter and the financial impact of the

bill.

Proposal would be costly

The county estimates the bill would increase county costs by at least $155.2 million annually for 33 new elected county officials and 392 new county positions, according to a legislative fiscal analysis.

It would require 2.5% of current expenditures to be duplicated, across the four new counties, according to the county. That includes four of each of the county’s elected officials, such as assessors, sheriffs, superintendents, recorders and treasurers.

The Legislature’s fiscal analysts were unable to pinpoint the exact impact on the state and county budgets, but wrote that $155.2 million “appears plausible as a starting point.”

“This estimate will require much more work by county officials and will eventually be higher as capital costs and other issues are factored into the longterm estimates,” according to the note.

County: Tax rates would be higher in three of four new counties

The new tax rates set by the new counties, which cannot be predicted, would also determine the exact cost for county taxpayers. The county estimates that, with the expected costs, the new tax rates would be higher in three of the counties and lower in one.

The proposed bill would break Maricopa County into four counties:

The new Maricopa County would include Tempe, Guadalupe, Tolleson, Glendale and south and central Phoenix, with the new northern border of the county along Thunderbird and Cactus roads in north Phoenix.

Mogollon County would include the rest of north Phoenix and the northeast portion of the county, including Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek and Carefree. Anthem and Rio Verde also would be part of this county.

Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek and other portions of the southeast Valley would be in a new Hohokam

County.

Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria and Surprise are in a new O’odham County.

Bowers would live in Hohokam County, which he said the county’s analysis showed would see a “nearly 63% increase in primary property taxes, assuming the same level of services.”

The bill says that the counties may enter into a 10-year shared use agreement to share resources. It would allow for a three-year transition period.

Bowers said in his letter that in 1993 he studied the issue of splitting the county as part of a committee, and his position has not changed over the years that he cannot support splitting the county.

“The concept of dividing up Maricopa County was unsupportable then, and it remains so today,” he wrote.