Rio Rico, Ariz. (KVOA) — Owners of hopeful new homes in the growing community of Santa Cruz County, Rio Rico are running into a roadblock.

Many new homes face long delays in connecting the utilities necessary to receive a certificate of occupancy when they move.

Ivan Garcia, after all the hard work, learned that he was worried that problems would prevent him from moving into his new home, which should be about a month away.

“This is what I said, but I always wanted to start a family in Rio Rico and raise them.

Garcia said the issue concerns Rio Rico Properties, the area’s main developer, which is responsible for connecting the new water taps to the area. Recently, however, the company changed its procedures, asking for a series of documents he called “fake,” including a series of title reports, cost of improvements and records it claims no longer exist.

“They are demanding fake documents that are nearly impossible to retrieve or find,” he said.

Tabrcio Bazua is the owner of Bazua Builders, one of Rio Rico’s most active builders building Garcia’s house.

He said he now has four customers with the same problem.

“I went to the title company here in Rio Rico to get all these documents and they said it was literally impossible to get all the information,” he said.

He feels that an entire army of contractors will do business elsewhere if a solution is not found soon.

“So what’s going to happen? Sales and property tax revenues will go down, hurting the county,” Bazua said.

N4T investigators turned to Santa Cruz County Public Works Commissioner Jesús Valdes for an answer.

“The county does not provide utility bills, so we are waiting and seeing how we can help residents,” Valdez said.

Our lead investigative reporter Corus Nylander asked him, “If many people see these problems, they may not want to build in Rio Rico. Do you think it is a region that enjoys

“Yes, we are concerned, so we will try to work with the people who are building the houses to try to find a solution,” Valdez said.

Rio Rico Properties is a subsidiary of Scottsdale-based real estate firm Taylor Morrison. N4T agents contacted Taylor Morrison and received the following statement:

“RRPI is an indirect subsidiary of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (“TMHC”). RRPI remains committed to fulfilling all contractual and legal obligations to install water and electricity services within Rio Rico. In 1974, RRPI’s predecessors agreed to install water and electricity. Services for small landowner groups and construction of approximately 123 miles of backbone infrastructure within Rio Rico. These obligations he completed in 1980. Extensions and connections were then made under specific agreements between RRPI and individual customers. These contracts required customers to pay an infrastructure improvement fee to RRPI in order to receive the service. The improvement fee was set at the full amount required to extend service to each customer lot. RRPI obligations are only for lot owners who have paid remediation fees and satisfied ownership of other lots. RRPI services parcel owners who have not paid their share of infrastructure costs through remediation fees is not obligated to provide But RRPI is being asked by landlords in Rio Rico to spend millions of dollars on improving properties that are not obligated to install water and electricity. Therefore, RRPI has provided an application process that allows any landowner within Rio Rico to properly establish RRPI’s contractual and legal obligations to install water and electricity services. If a site owner fails to demonstrate that RRPI is obligated to install utilities on his site, this does not mean that the site owner is not entitled to utility services on his site. is not. Liberty Utilities is a licensed water utility for the area. Liberty Utilities is obligated by the Arizona Corporation Commission to provide water service to all residents within its certified territory, including throughout Rio Rico. The cost, timing, and availability of water utility services on premises where RRPI has no utility obligations are determined solely between Liberty Utilities, its customers, and the Arizona Commission of Corporations. UniSource is the public operator of electricity services in Rio Rico. “

Liberty Utilities, Rio Rico’s primary water supplier, has reported that the process has moved too slowly if RRPI is involved, according to the Arizona State Business Commission. The commission said it was preparing to send a factsheet to affected homeowners to better explain Liberty’s next steps.

Liberty Utilities sent us the following statement:

“Liberty encourages Liolico property owners wishing to install new water and wastewater services to submit customer inquiries on our new connectivity webpage. here. The inquiry will determine if the property is within Liberty’s service area and the water and wastewater facilities required for service. Liberty will provide the findings to property owners and work with them on next steps. ”

For Ivan Garcia, he just wants a quick fix and a delay in building his home could cost him thousands of dollars.

“I want to see change and I want to see the county step in and stop this. This needs to be stopped,” he said.

If you have a story you would like N4T investigators to look into, please email investigers@kvoa.com or call the hotline at 520-955-4444.