Despite being rejected by colleagues, lawmakers in Southern Arizona have found a new way to implement a plan to see if part of Santa Cruz County should merge with Cochise County.

R-Hereford Rep. Gail Griffin persuaded legislative leaders to set up a task force to investigate what would happen if the line between the two counties were moved. Griffin was particularly interested in moving the Sonoita and Elgin areas of Santa Cruz County to Cochise.

That committee’s goals are exactly what was behind Griffin’s HB 2486, which she passed through the House earlier this year by a 31-29 partisan vote.

But when Senator Andrea D’Alessandro of D-Green Valley convinced several Republicans to join the Democratic Party and oppose it on financial grounds, if part of the tax base were stripped, Santa Cruz County The bill died, citing what happens to what remains of it.

Gail Griffin

“The rest of the ranchers in the county, who are mostly Republicans, will end up paying more property taxes,” she told colleagues.

However, Griffin told the Capitol Media Service on Tuesday that he still believes an investigation is needed “to clarify and enable us to address the problems our communities are having.”

“There will be a lot of discussion going on to provide solutions to the citizens of the region,” she said.

D’Alessandro said he was “disappointed” by the Republican legislative leadership’s decision to create a commission of inquiry.

In proposing the original bill, Griffin said residents of eastern Santa Cruz County “feel they weren’t being treated fairly and weren’t getting the attention they wanted.”

“They seem to think they have more in common with neighboring counties,” she said.

Griffin said many of the complaints came from residents in the Sonoita area.

One of the problems is that the peace court judges who were previously within the community have been moved to Nogales. Mr. Griffin said roads were a problem as well as tax increases.

“And no communication,” she said.

But D’Alessandro wondered if there really were far-reaching issues to pursue the unusual step of moving county lines.

“I think it’s just a small group of vocal people who want this annexation,” she said.

Dalessandro said he surveyed residents in his district (both potentially divided areas and the rest of the county) to try to gauge their feelings.

However, Griffin thinks the idea is more popular than Dallessandro.

“The meetings I attended were standing room only,” she said. And Griffin said residents of the area “feel like they have more in common with Cochise County.”

But it raises another question: Does Cochise County want to accept all those people and be held accountable for serving them?

Some of the non-legislative members of the Commission appear to represent those who have actively promoted the reorganization of county boundaries. This includes both the chair and members of the Sonoita-Elgin community group.

However, the Commission includes D’Alessandro and some participants who are generally considered neutral participants. One of them is Jennifer Stilloe, vice president of the Arizona Tax Research Association. The association is particularly inclined to oppose any action that raises corporate property taxes.

The Commission will report its findings to legislative leaders at the end of 2020.

A majority in favor of changing the county boundaries would be legally meaningless in and of itself. Only Congress can approve such changes.

And even if there were feelings for such a move, there are many other issues that need to be resolved.

The most important of these are the financial ones, ranging from who owns Santa Cruz County equipment and property and how they divide their debts.

Griffin said there are other issues to consider, such as whether changing county boundaries will lead to increased economic opportunities and better marketing of produce.

In a statement released Tuesday, Santa Cruz County supervisor Bruce Blacker for the district that includes the affected area said he doesn’t believe realigning county boundaries is the solution. Stated.

“A tremendous amount of effort and resources are expended by those who seek to divide us,” he said. “I want to focus attention and resources on addressing the issues in our community to find solutions that benefit everyone and bring us together rather than divide us. .”

“Constructive criticism is always welcome,” Blacker said, pledging to address concerns in all areas of the county.

“At the moment, we are doing so much that we can take advantage of economic development to attract new and diverse investments, create permanent jobs and help grow local businesses. increase.

The decision to create a legislative commission was actually made last week without being made public. But Bowers’ press aide, Matt Specht, said there was no attempt to hide it from the public.

“We don’t normally issue a press release on a special committee until the details of the first meeting are finalized,” he said. Specht said the committee doesn’t appear to be convening until late October.