ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
county road construction finance
Purpose
Allows the establishment of a road construction revolving fund by individual counties.
Background
Homes in many rural communities are currently on lots that are divided fewer times than would constitute a legal subdivision in that area. These communities, most often consisting of homes that are owner built, are exempt from local subdivision regulations including road construction and improvement requirements. The result has been a growing number of substandard roads. People living in these areas expect services such as garbage pickup, school bus service and snow removal. Substandard roads often cannot support these types of vehicles.
Normally, a county improvement district would bond n order to provide funds for road improvements, but that process has become costly for some counties and bidders are often rare. S.B. 1544 allows for alternative funding plans in order to make needed improvements to roads in unincorporated county areas.
There is no fiscal impact to the state general fund associated with this measure. According to the County Supervisors Association, the fiscal impact to the county general funds is unknown.
Provisions
1. Allows the county board of supervisors to establish a revolving fund in the county treasury to finance road construction in unincorporated areas of the county.
2. Allows the board to make payments to the fund from the county general fund, payments from the sale of county bonds for street improvement, forest reserve monies and monies returned to the county from motor vehicle fuel and user taxes.
3. Allows a county to advance monies from this fund to improvement districts to finance the construction of roads with a total cost per road of $300,000 or less.
4. Allows the advance to be made through the purchase of bonds, notes or evidence of indebtedness of the district for a term of not more than ten years.
5. Stipulates that the advance is to be paid back from assessments on real property in the district.
6. Allows the advance to be treated as a bond allowing the district to collect assessments.
7. Allows the assessment revenue to be applied toward repayment of the advance and any interest to be deposited in the road construction revolving fund.
8. Requires the district to collect assessments to repay advances from the fund in the same way and with the same procedures as when collecting assessments to repay bonds.
9. Requires the district to pay interest on the advance.
10. Stipulates that all remaining balances of appropriations from the fund after the appropriations lapse must revert back to the fund.
11. Requires the county treasurer to keep the road construction revolving fund separate from all other funds.
12. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 22, 2001