Pima County Leverages Property Tax Revenue to Excel in Capital Improvement Projects and Open Space Acquisition

Location: Pima County, Arizona

Highlighted Element: 422.f. Open Space Incentives (OSI) & 542.c. Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

Point of Contact: Dr. Greg Saxe, M.R.P., Environmental Planning Manager, Pima County, AZ

Pima County is a large community of about 6 million acres––nearly the size of Vermont, and is the second most populous county in Arizona with a population of 980,263 (as of the 2010 census) ("Pima County, AZ," no date). A majority of the population is in Tucson with most of the urbanization occurring in the Tucson Valley. Pima County contains several Native American reservations and part of Saguaro National Park ("Pima County, AZ," no date). A large community with many resources, the county is rapidly growing with an additional 20,000 new residents each year (Huckelberry, 2002).

Pima County excels in Open Space Incentives and Capital Improvement Projects due to its geographic need to protect its floodplains, as well as the fragile Sonoran Desert landscape. Since the county is arid, the floodplains are often dry until a severe rain event occurs and the watercourses are subject to flash flooding and lateral movement. For example, numerous homes and businesses were lost due to the lateral migration of watercourses during the 1983 flood. This flood event resulted in increased resources to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for projects such as bank stabilization to protect homes, and creation of the Flood-prone Land Acquisition Program (FLAP), which was set up to acquire lands and residential structures damaged by the flood. Over 400 structures were purchased using $8.3 million in General Obligation Bonds (GO Bonds) issued in 1984.

An evaluation of the 1983 flood event led to the conclusion that flood damage would have been more severe if the upper watersheds were developed and watercourses channelized. This led to the expansion of FLAP to include acquisition of undeveloped properties and upper watershed areas in order to reduce flood risk downstream and reduce the need for structural improvements. Flood-prone land acquisition also helps create recreational opportunities, maintain urban open space and enhance groundwater infiltration. In 1986 Pima County voters authorized another $20 million in GO Bonds to acquire large upper watershed parcels, such as the Cienega Creek Preserve. Additional voter-approved bond issuances occurred in 1997 and 2004 with approximately $32.5 million in GO Bonds approved for flood-prone lands and riparian habitat. After the Aspen Fire in 2003 and subsequent flooding of residences the following year, GO bonds, augmented by a $3 million FEMA Disaster Mitigation Grant, were used to purchase and relocate people from 76 properties in the Cañada del Oro Wash. To date, the Pima County Regional Flood Control District (District) has acquired approximately 12,500 acres of flood-prone property.

Pima County grew at a very quick pace in the 1980s and early 1990s, but stalled in the mid-1990s due to its first endangered species listing—the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum). As a result, in the late 1990s, Pima County began to develop the now award-winning Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP). The SDCP is a nationally acclaimed open space plan that brings biological and scientific considerations into the conversation of growth. As the basis for Pima County's Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan, approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015, the SDCP provides planning guidance and endangered species mitigation areas so municipalities and private landowners can be exempt from having to have individual consultations when federal permits are required. The SDCP designates priority conservation areas, which Pima County uses to guide new open space acquisitions. In 2004 voters approved an additional $164.3 million in GO Bonds for open space acquisition to support the SDCP, resulting in the conservation of 47,000 acres of land "in fee" and 127,000 acres of state and federal grazing leases.

The CIP used GO Bonds to fund more than $100 million in infrastructure improvements to protect existing development from flood and erosion hazards, as well as to facilitate and plan for the protection of new development. These improvements include over 100 miles of bank protection, numerous regional detention basins, and a vast array of construction and maintenance projects on smaller watercourses.

In addition to bond funding, the district's enabling legislation provides property tax authority to support flood control activities. The district's annual budget supports, among other programs, a CIP including FLAP to allow for the continuation of these services between bond elections. Benefits that Pima County residents receive from the property tax levy include 55 full-time employees dedicated to flood control. More benefits in addition to CIP include a floodplain management program to address outreach and regulatory requirements, a flood control operations program to address inspection and maintenance of flood control infrastructure, and a water resources program to evaluate and implement projects that restore and enhance water supply and the natural resources it supports. The district is rather advanced in its GIS capabilities, which helps with the creation of their impact adjustment maps for their CIP and other CRS activities.

Clearly Pima County has demonstrated the importance of connecting with the community so sound floodplain management practices are supported by local residents, up through county leadership. Pima County's robust CIP program, including open space funding, would not have been possible without working to get the community to understand the importance of structural and nonstructural floodplain management practices. Dr. Greg Saxe credits Suzanne Shields, the district's chief engineer, who works to encourage public support of bond efforts and the property tax levy to support floodplain management goals. saxe also credits, Chuck Huckelberry, county administrator, for his unwavering support for the district and the SDCP.

Pima County officials say that by looking at open space preservation, floodplain analysis, and capital improvement needs regionally, the costs associated with each project are significantly reduced for public and private sector projects. For example, a developer only needs to add the footprint of a proposed development to the relevant cross-sections of a regional floodplain delineation, rather than modeling an entire watershed in order to determine the project impacts. Fortuitously, when the new CRS manual was released, open space had been given a lot more emphasis, allowing Pima County to capitalize on their existing efforts on the SDCP and FLAP.

Pima County's CIP and open space efforts have resulted in many financial and environmental benefits. As a Class 5 community, the county receives a 25% reduction in flood insurance premiums. They have also noticed a significant drop in emergency response since their CIP and open space preservation has become so well established, and that insurance claims have decreased and paid claims are for smaller amounts. Investment in OSI and CIP has not only contributed to a dramatic reduction in risk, it has also been significant in terms of what land is now developable. In many cases where capital improvements have occurred, development can extend closer to watercourses without an increase in risk. In other cases, acquisition of flood-prone lands reduces development pressure in that area, as well as the associated risks that increased development has on existing downstream development.

There have also been a number of notable environmental benefits. Pima County officials have noticed native fish returning to the Santa Cruz River and a re-established Bighorn Sheep population. the county works to maintain wildlife corridors in its open space, and have even constructed wildlife overpasses to ensure their riparian corridors are uninterrupted.

Best practices shared by this community:

1. Do not underestimate the importance of involving the community so that they understand and support capital improvement projects and open space preservation. Community involvement in conservation planning to be a huge advantage.
2. Be sure to leverage existing efforts before partaking in new CRS activities.
3. Have a countywide plan that establishes an overall goal and prioritizes areas that need to be protected. This reduces some of the controversy associated with individual projects.
4. Get everyone "bought in" first. To establish the program in the first place, you need widespread support from elected officials, city employees, NGOs, stakeholders, local residents, etc.