History of the Tanque Verde Valley Fire District.
The residents of Bel Air Ranch Estates discussed the formation of a fire district in 2005 in order to lower the cost of Rural Metro coverage. An impact statement was prepared and filed with the Pima County Board of Supervisors on February 10, 2006. The Board approved the statement and authorized the circulation of petitions, which were filed with the Board on July 5, 2006. The Board passed Resolution 2006-206 on August 1, 2006 ordering the establishment of the Tanque Verde Valley Fire District. The fire district board signed a contract with Rural Metro on December 19, 2007 and coverage began on January 1, 2008.
The original boundary of the fire district included the nine Bel Air Ranch Estates subdivisions, Pantano Ranch Estates subdivision, Tara Subdivision, and one unsubdivided parcel for a total of 479 lots or parcels. Since then we have added two lots in Millstone Manor, the 36 lots in Windridge, 15 lots in San Domingo, and four unsubdivided parcels for a total of 536 lots or parcels.
The original board members were Kaye D. Treese, Robert Jones, and David M. Baird. The current board members are Bruce Small, Steve Ruetz, and Layne Lundeen.
The Board members are non-partisan elected members that must run for office every four years – the members have staggered terms so that the all do not run at the same time. A Fire District Board is structured much the same as other Special Districts under Arizona Revised Statute Title 48. Comparable to a School District. If a seat is vacated, the remaining members may appoint a person to that seat for the remainder of the term.
Advantages: There are several advantages to paying the Rural Metro fee through a fire district tax, which is a line item on the county tax bill.
The fire district negotiates a fixed fee by contract with Rural Metro for coverage for the district. Since everyone in the fire district is covered and Rural Metro does not have any administration or collection costs, the fire district can strike a better deal with Rural Metro on behalf of the residents.
The fees paid to the fire district as part of the property taxes are available to the residents as a tax deduction on their income tax.
All homeowners in the state pay a small amount to the State for a fire district assistance tax, typically about $10 a year, so the total paid by the residents in our fire district is about $5,000. That money is then distributed back to just the fire districts for emergency assistance, and in our case, brings us about $41,800 a year. We use that money to help pay for Rural Metro coverage, which again means a saving to the residents.
For more information about the district, our website is http://www.tvvfd.com/, our e-mail address is [email protected], and our phone number is 520-834-5035.