Vineyard of Mesa

It was mentioned in our neighborhood get-together back in May (?) that some home owners were interested in information on getting annexed. I found a helpful brochure produced by the City of Mesa that explained the requirements and process at http://www.cityofmesa.org/planning/pdf/Annex.pdf

Here's my question: If the City of Mesa is seriously looking into initiating a property tax due to the budget crisis they are in, would it be beneficial for us to annex? I am not familiar with property tax but I am assuming it will cost more for it than paying Rural Metro my $250 fee every year. What do others think / know?






By Butler

Re-Annexation

Currently people with houses inside the city limits pay about $150 more in taxes with similar assessed values as mine. Couple that with the fact that there is no Rural Metro service fee, a department with average response times about twice that of the city fire department (although we live almost on top of a RM station so that may be different for us), and it's a bargain.

There are other benefits to being incorporated as well. Under county codes, there is little that can be done about some of the issues we face, such as appliances and furniture sitting in driveways etc. City codes are more stringent.

The city will most likely be looking to incorporate a city portion to the property tax. Currently they rely on sales tax and utility revenue for funding. By law, this will have to be put to a public vote and that can be a tough sell. That's a vote that we are currently unable to participate in since we are county residents.

The city has not released any plans as to what percentage they would ask for on the assessed value so it would be speculation as to how much the taxes would increase should a vote pass. Sometimes you get what you pay for though.