The Annexation Process

Annexation is a democratic process – the majority rules. State law (specifically Arizona Revised Statute 9-471) dictates a process requiring signatures of more than 50% of the number of property owners and owners of 50% or more of the assessed valuation in the area.

The City of Tucson will attempt to meet individually with each property owner in an annexation area to answer annexation questions and ask them if they would like to sign a petition in favor of annexation. If the required signatures are gathered, the Mayor and Council will vote to adopt an ordinance officially annexing the area into the City of Tucson.

Requirements: There are specific guidelines to annexation of property that are primarily established by State law. Some items that must be met before an annexation can occur are:

• The annexed area must be contiguous to (directly bordering on) a current City limit for at least 300 feet
• The annexed area must be at least 200 ft. in all places
• The area's length (extending out from the City limit) may be no more than twice the distance of its width (adjacent to the City limit). For example, if the area is contiguous for 300 feet, the annexation can extend outward for up to 600 feet from the current City limit.
• The area must make sense in terms of City services delivery (annexation of an entire residential subdivision would be pursued rather than a single lot)

How Property is Annexed: An annexation can be initiated by property owners or by the City of Tucson. Once it has been determined that all of the above criteria have been met, City staff will work with the property owners in order to develop the boundaries of the annexation area, also called an annexation district.

State law governs the annexation process. Annexation is a democratic process and requires consent of property owners. State law requires signatures of more than 50% of the number of property owners and owners of 50% or more of the assessed valuation in the area. For example, if an area has 10 property owners and an assessed value of $1,000,000, we must get signatures from at least 6 property owners and the value of their property must be at least $500,000.