HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistorical Records - Incorporation (58) Virgil B. Brandon
9101 N. Overlook Drive
Tucson, Arizona 85704
Congressman Dorris K. Udall
Federal Building
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Dear Representative Udall,
I am a resident of the small community (annroximately 300 households)
just north of Tucson which is attempting to incornorate as the separate
municipality of Oro Valley. My o*,rn particular bias is that it would be
financial folly to incorporate an area with such a small tax base. ie
would not receive even the minimal services that Pima County now provides
without a substantial increase in taxes.
The nroponents of incorporation have sold the nroFra;r to many of the
residents on the basis that they would receive increased police protection,
there would be no commercial development in the area (hence no taxes from
this source) and no increase in property taxes. They propose to obtain
sufficient funds through federal revenue sharing and a prorortional share
of state revenues. May own calculations and t ose of two other knowledgeable
individuals indicate that revenue frorcA these sources would fall snort of
expenditure requirements by many thousands of dollars. This , of course, is
what the City of Tucson and Pima County governi ents have been saying all
along. It would seem then that the information oeing given to the local
people does not square with reality.
A sampling of opinion in the area indicates that 1/ the people do not
want a reduction in public services , 2/ they do not want to pay higher taxes
and 3/ if either of these circumstances prevail, the iireat majority are
against incorporation.
In attempting to counter the arguement against incorporation, the
proponents frequently efer to the small municipality of Faradise Valley in
P aricopa County. The claim is that the residents of Paradise Valley have
better service, that their taxes have not increased and they have managed to
accomplish all of this with federal funds - the figure quoted is $75.00 per
R
c:anita. Since Paradise Va,lei zs an upper middle class cor:rur.Zty, this is
an amount far in excess of the amount they are eligible for ander the
distribution formula. The opponents of incorporation contend that either
1/ this is not true or 2/ Paradise Valley is obtaining federal funds illegally.
The people of the Oro Valley community, of course, want to know the "real"
truth.
In order to determine the truth, I am requesting your assistance. The
Office of Revenue Sharing bulletin of Iviarch, 1973 and consultations with the
Department of Public Administration at the University of Arizona indicate
that the proper procedure, in matters where misuse of QRS funds is suspected,
is to request, throw;;, your congressional representative, an investigation
by the General Accounting Office. AccordintYly, in the best interests of
good government and on behalf of the residents of the community, I am
requesting that you have the GAO investigate the matter and provide us with
information as to the true extent, both total and per capita, of FRS funds
that Paradise Valley is entitled to and is , in fact, receiving. I intend
to publish this letter and your reply in a fact sheet which will be provided
to the residents of this area so that they may better assess the situation.
Since time is critical, an expeditious answer would be deeply appreciated.
m Yours truly,
B.-Srand on
CC: Pima County :Board of Sunervisors
azs IDEN D Cr ORO VALLEY
1. Did you know thit revenue distributed from federal and state sources_is
based on population? Did you know that most of the public services e7,pense
(;;79.'d maintenance, police security, sewer maintenance) of this area is a
function of area size rather than population?
2. Did you know that the town of Paradise Valley has about eight times as "'
manypeople as the communityof Oro Valley? The im lication of..._t!uis is _
that you are bein .__.asked to._d o what Paradise Valley has done on 1/8 the income.
3. Did you know that the largest portion of t~e income budgeted for the new
•
"town" of Oro Va'.ley is expected to be received from federal rev ;nue
sharing b41'
and that this law expires December 31, 1976 and ma no _be rene��lea?
kms,
4. Do you know what your obligations will be if the near "town" cannot nay
its bills and the county is forced to appoint a trustee to extricate it
from a financial mess?
5. Are you willing to pay substantially hir'her taxes just to receive the
public services you now receive or are ypu_willing_to elet your.__seTyers
overflow, your roads deteriorate and the community go unprotected?
6. Did you knot,' that the final incid encs of -a utilitzes r cb.�.s,e tax
:""..r.W"'.•s�:�.+..,._._�...a,..�--vim v�- �'�e �..c-:f•-zra�'�-,�--- '� .
(another proposed source of incor�e falls on you the consumer? Do you et-0
higher utility bills?
7. If you are worried about zoning, didyou know th f t it may be possible
to form a special zoning district (similar to a school district) so P
that you can control zoning policy in your community? It needs to be
investigated before incorporation is adopted as a solution.
8. ,could you sign a petition for disincornoration if incorporation meant
substantially higher taxes or less public service? As it now stands,
unless positive action is initiated to stop it, this area will become
the Town of Oro Valley because of a four year old petition to incorporate
that many regret signing andmost of us have never even seen.
9. Do you wonder why the self,_ annointed_C=m ttee _f orR._lnc_ornoration will
not call a public meeting to discuss these issues?
10. If these questions concern you write to the County Board of Supervisors
requesting delay of the incorporation until we have all,been consulted
in a public forum and the questions resolved.