Arizona
Chandler, RWCD ruling: Could residents save on property taxes? – KTAR.com
PHOENIX — Chandler residents may be one step closer to ending about $1.7 million a year in property taxes paid to the Roosevelt Water Conservation District after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the city’s water agreement.
The court ruled that Chandler’s water agreement with the Roosevelt Water Conservation District remains enforceable through 2086, ending a yearslong dispute over water deliveries and taxes paid by thousands of property owners.
“Nearly 27,000 Chandler households have paid Roosevelt Water Conservation District property taxes for years without water benefits. That ends with this ruling,” Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke said in a Wednesday announcement.
Why were Chandler and RWCD in court over a water agreement?
City officials said the dispute began when the district, known as RWCD, stopped honoring its agreement to provide water to Chandler. The most recent version of that deal was signed in 2002.
Last year, Hartke told KTAR News 92.3 FM that RWCD would sometimes let water go to waste rather than sell it to the city.
RWCD was formed more than a century ago to irrigate about 40,000 acres of farmland in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and southeastern Maricopa County. As those lands urbanized, Chandler continued purchasing water through the district’s water rights.
The court rejected RWCD’s argument that Chandler waited too long to sue.
“Water is a critical public resource, and this ruling restores a key component of Chandler’s 100-year assured water supply,” Hartke said.