AZ County Island
What is an AZ County Island?
Although it may sound somewhat exotic, sorry, it’s not. There is no clear blue water lapping on the sand of an AZ County Island. The good news is, an AZ County Island can be a great thing for horse property owners! In Arizona there are a lot of different areas that have horse properties and an AZ County Island is one of those areas. An AZ County Island or Maricopa County Islands are scattered all over the Valley of the Sun. Often a County Island is something people have heard of except they really don’t know what a County Island is for sure. Thank you to Judy Hedding of About.com for writing this article on County Islands in Maricopa County Arizona. There are several areas right within the Greater Phoenix area that really aren’t part of any incorporated city or town. In Maricopa County, where most of Greater Phoenix is located, there are people who might receive their mail at an address that says “Scottsdale” or “Gilbert” because those post offices service those areas, but they really don’t live in those cities. They live in an AZ County Island.
What Is an AZ County Island?
A county island is an area of unincorporated land which is completely surrounded by a city or town. AZ County Islands are created when a city or town annexes land into their corporate boundaries but excludes certain areas. Those excluded areas that remain under county jurisdiction are referred to as an AZ County Island. People who live in AZ county islands usually don’t receive services from the city which surrounds them. They might have to pay separately for water, sewer, and trash collection. In Maricopa County, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office provides police protection to all unincorporated areas including county islands. Maricopa County does not provide fire protection. Arizona law prevents the creation of any new county islands. Property owners within existing county islands usually initiate an annexation by the city that surrounds the county island. While annexation of large areas of undeveloped land is a relatively simple task for cities and towns, it is more complex when an annexation involves multiple property owners, and more complicated yet when the annexation involves land already developed.
Why WOULDN'T the property owners of an AZ County Island want to be annexed?
Many county island property owners would pay higher real estate taxes if they were annexed into a town or city.
Why WOULD the property owners of an AZ County Island want to be annexed?
Higher municipal taxes may be offset by an overall reduction in the total costs to the property owner for obtaining urban services. Examples are subscription to a private trash collection service, subscription to an emergency fire protection service or creation of a special taxing district for fire protection. People who reside in county islands may not vote in city elections of the city that surrounds them.
Why wouldn’t a city or town want to annex an AZ County Island?
A city or town might be reluctant to annex certain AZ County Islands due to increased infrastructure and service delivery costs.
Where are the AZ County Islands in Maricopa County?
There are actually many small AZ county islands within Maricopa County. Some of these areas are large enough to have their own names, like New River, Rio Verde, Sun City, Sun City West, Sun Lakes and Tonopah. Many other county islands are scattered across Maricopa County, predominantly in the northwest and southeast parts of the county.
A Common Misconception About an AZ County Island
Sun City residents might not pay taxes to any local school districts, and that does not hold true for other county islands. Most of the AZ county islands are located within a school district. If you live within a county island that is part of a school district, your children may attend those schools just like the children residing in the surrounding city.
County Island Trivia
The Phoenix Country Club in downtown Phoenix is an AZ County Island. Thanks to the Maricopa County Planning & Development Department for providing the information about AZ county islands for this article.
