Rancho Sarita Community Facilities District adopts $9.23 million tentative budget

Sahuarita — The Rancho Sarita Community Facilities District board unanimously adopted a $9,233,410 tentative budget for fiscal year 2026 during the meeting, approving Resolution No. 2025-533 and setting a final budget public hearing for June 23, 2025.

AC Mariotti, serving as district treasurer and acting town manager, detailed the district’s finances: the district’s latest total assessed valuation is about $31.7 million, an increase of roughly $7.3 million (30%) over the prior year. The district encompasses about 943 acres inside Sahuarita and is currently about 32% built out — 1,035 residential lots of a planned 3,267 — with 13 commercial lots and the area hospital included in the valuation.

Mariotti said the tentative budget is balanced and that approximately 79% of next year’s resources — about $7.3 million — are beginning fund balances, primarily unspent bond proceeds that the district expects to spend on infrastructure acquisition. The district has an authorized bonding capacity of $60 million; $26 million of general obligation bonds remain outstanding with about $31.9 million in capacity still available.

Property taxes for the district remain unchanged at a combined $4.99 per $100 of net taxable assessed value: $4.69 for debt service and $0.30 for operations and maintenance. Staff estimated the average homeowner would pay about $33 more next year than this year (about a 3% increase) because of rising property valuations.

Expenditures are concentrated in capital outlay, which makes up roughly $7.3 million or 79% of the district’s tentative budget; debt principal and interest account for about $1.9 million (20%) and operations about $53,000 (1%). Mariotti said the district expects to consume nearly all of its resources during the fiscal year.

The district board voted unanimously to adopt the tentative budget; the resolution directs staff to file the tentative budget with the district clerk and post it on the town website, and it establishes the June 23, 2025 public hearing for final adoption.

The district’s status as a blended component unit of the Town of Sahuarita was noted; while legally separate, council members sit as the district board and town staff perform district functions, and the town includes the district in its comprehensive financial reporting under GASB guidance.