On Wednesday, the Arizona House Government and Elections Committee passed HB 2787, a bill which would modify the boundaries of Maricopa County, turning the sprawling county into four separate counties. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jake Hoffman, passed on a 7-6 party line vote.
Steve Gaynor, a Republican candidate for Arizona Governor, addressed the committee in support of the bill, arguing that Maricopa County is headed in the “direction of terribly-governed liberal megacounties” like Los Angeles County and Cook County in Illinois. He noted that unlike the current system, with five supervisors dividing up the entire population, political representation for county residents would be stronger under the new legislation.
“The two largest counties by population in the country, Los Angeles and Cook, are examples of what Maricopa will likely become if action is not taken,” Gaynor testified. “Their governments are wasteful and unresponsive to citizen needs, and they are unpleasant places to live.”
Current statute divides the state of Arizona into 15 counties and prescribes the boundaries and county seat of each county. Counties are permitted to be formed or divided by legislative enactment, statewide initiative or by county initiative (A.R.S. Title 11, Chapter 1).
Supporters of the bill argue that the quality of care and attention received by citizens of one of these new counties will improve, because elected officials and government employees improves when they are accountable to smaller numbers of citizens and/or voters. They also point out the massive disparity between Maricopa County and the rest of the counties in the state. The second largest county in the state is Pima County and it is only about one quarter the size of Maricopa County. Greenlee County is Arizona’s least populous county at right around 10,000 people, yet they have three supervisors, a county recorder, a county sheriff, etc. to take care of them. By comparison, Maricopa County has just five supervisors, one county recorder, one county sheriff etc, to take care of approximately 4.5 Million residents. That is a workload roughly 450 times larger for each department in Maricopa County.
HB 2787 Provisions:
- Revises the boundaries of Maricopa County and authorizes the creation of three new counties, Hohokam, Mogollon and O’odham, and prescribes their borders.
- Stipulates that Maricopa County will continue full jurisdictional operation for Maricopa, Hohokam, Mogollon and O’odham counties until the election of the boards of supervisors in Hohokam, Maricopa, Mogollon and O’odham counties.
- Directs the boards of supervisors in Hohokam, Maricopa, Mogollon and O’odham counties to be elected at a special election within 120 days of January 1, 2023 and specifies that the supervisors will serve staggered, abbreviated terms until the next presidential election.
- Maintains that currently elected Maricopa County supervisors will continue in their elected capacity for the remainder of their term in the new county, if applicable.
- Asserts that control of existing special districts is assumed by the county where the special district is located and counties must enter into an intergovernmental agreement regarding control of the special district within one year of the board of supervisors election if the special district is located in more than one county.
- Instructs the elected boards of supervisors in Hohokam, Mogollon and O’odham counties to determine an application process for municipalities to apply to be the county seat which must be determined at a special election not more than 120 days after the election of the boards of supervisors.
- Authorizes Hohokam, Maricopa, Mogollon and O’odham counties to enter into a 10-year shared use agreement for the use of existing shared capital assets and directs the counties to divide fixtures, furniture and equipment on a pro-rata basis based on the items located in each county.
- Directs the Legislative Council staff to prepare proposed conforming legislation for consideration in the Fifty-sixth Legislature, First Regular Session. (Sec. 4) 9. Contains an effective date of January 1, 2023.