President’s Message March/April 2018
With Windmill pool and splash pad opening the 1st of March everyone should be able to see and enjoy the new Pebble Tec surfacing. The pool plaster did not have the life expectancy of the Pebble Tec so hopefully it will result in a savings over the years. The Easter Egg hunt will be held on March 31st and looks to be even more fun filled than last year. Anyone wishing to help out should contact the office as we could use more volunteers. It is very rewarding to see all the happy kids.
While it was nice to see the rains come in past month they have an adverse side effect as well. WEEDS! Looking around our common areas we took the landscape crew to task for the large number of weeds growing around our community and they went on a weed control mission to eliminate them. While we use pre-emergent on all of our common areas, the rains allowed the seeds to germinate that had blown in from other areas anyway. There are a large number of covenants letters going out to homeowners who have not taken care of the weeds on their property. Please take control of the weeds if you receive a letter so CRCA can appear well maintained.
I have written about this issue before but I am still continually surprised by the large number of children using the play structure at the Windmill Park playground area. I am also surprised at how many children and families enjoy the turf area that is really looking nice. It is too bad that there are a few individuals who believe there is a Poop Fairy who will wave their magic wand and the piles left by their dogs will magically disappear. There is no Poop Fairy and the piles left are being picked up on kid’s shoes. Not only that, but there are very real health issues with dog feces as well as it being against the law to not scoop your poop. It is not limited to just Windmill Park but throughout CRCA. Please be considerate of your neighbors and don’t wait for the Poop Fairy to appear – scoop your dog’s poop.
I thought it was time to call the attention of homeowners and businesses in CRCA to a portion of your property taxes for which you receive no benefit- what I would call a “taxation without representation” sort of thing. I am referring to the part of your tax bill that reads “CMID”. This CMID tax is assessed by the Cortaro Marana Irrigation District for which you are levied $69 per acre (or percentage of an acre) on your property taxes each year. CMID (aka Cortaro Water Users Association) has been in existence since 1919 and services approximately 70 irrigation customers. Before Continental Ranch was first developed in the mid-80’s, the area was farmland owned by lettuce grower Bud Antle. I am sure that Mr. Antle used the services of CMID to water his fields. I find it quite disturbing that over 90% of CRCA- as well as the businesses at the Arizona Pavilions- are included in the CMID water district for tax purposes and we receive nothing in return other than the privilege of offsetting some costs to the 70 customers who use CMID water for irrigation. Doing a rough calculation CMID receives in excess of $70,000 a year from properties in CRCA and give nothing back to us in return. I have included a map on page 3 of this newsletter showing the boundaries of CMID for taxation purposes. Is there anything we can do to stop paying for something we receive no benefit from? We can petition the Pima County Board of Supervisors to be excluded from this taxing district. If you are interested in lowering your tax bill please contact the office for a petition. This will not happen without a lot of homeowners voicing their opinion.