The land is cleared, the roads are in place and the utilities are ready. All Saguaro Springs needs now is houses — and people to live in them.
The 2,500-home development on Marana's southwest side could soon start filling up, once builder KB Home completes its models and selects a date for its grand opening.
In the meantime, the Marana Town Council has approved the creation of a community facilities district, or CFD, that will help developer Saguaro Reserve LLC pay for the infrastructure that it has been putting into place.
"We have to front the money to construct the roads, so this would be how we would be reimbursed," said Dusty Hare of The Empire Cos., which along with KB Home makes up Saguaro Reserve LLC. "The CFD will help us get more to a break-even point. It's not money going into our pocket."
CFDs are a tool created by the Legislature in 1988 that allows developers and municipalities to better finance needed public improvements, such as roads, parks, lighting and sites for future schools.
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"It's like an improvement district," Marana town attorney Gilbert Davidson said. "The intent is to have those improvements paid for through a property tax."
Though Marana doesn't have a townwide property tax, designated individual areas can be taxed through special districts.
CFDs exist for Dove Mountain, as well as the Gladden Farms and Vanderbilt Farms developments. And future housing projects such as Sanders Grove, Uptown at Marana and The Villages of Tortolita all have the future creation of CFDs written into their development agreements.
Saguaro Springs residents, once they buy into the neighborhood, could have their properties taxed at a rate no higher than $2.80 per $100 of secondary assessed value.
Of that amount, $2.50 would go toward the sale of general obligation bonds to pay for the infra-structure and 30 cents would go to the town to maintain the neighborhood's improvements in the future.
The tax rate for Gladden Farms and Vanderbilt Farms is also $2.80.
The decision to sell up to $99 million in bonds will be determined by an election scheduled for Oct. 30, though Hare said only "people that have an interest in the property" will be able to vote. That means entities such as the developer, the builder and any other financial backers.
Having the CFD in place before anyone is living there makes sense, officials say, because once people have moved in they're likely to vote down a property tax.
"Who's going to agree to a property tax after the fact?" town attorney Davidson said.
The Town Council will serve as the governing board for the CFD, as it does for Gladden Farms and Vanderbilt Farms, and therefore will approve an annual budget for the district and have final say over how the improvements are paid for.
The CFDs that pertain to Dove Mountain are overseen by independent boards, but Davidson said that in 2004 the Town Council decided it wanted to have more direct control to make sure the interests of the district stayed consistent with the town's interests.
"It's just a better way to do it," Mayor Ed Honea said. "Even though the town is not at risk, in order to do the CFD you have to have a municipality's approval. We have the ability to look at the financial structuring. We don't want someone going out and selling more bonds than they can afford."
Honea said a property tax might deter some people from living in Saguaro Springs, but that even without that tax, homeowners would ultimately end up footing the bill for the infrastructure via higher home or lot prices.
"It's going to be the homeowners in the end, regardless, who pay for it all," Honea said.
Hare, of Saguaro Reserve, said he is required to tell potential buyers upfront about a property tax, but he thinks a smart shopper will understand the importance of having the tax.
"There is a taxpayer benefit, because you do receive the benefit of these bigger and better infrastructures that without the CFD simply wouldn't be there," Hare said.
