A new Arizona law signed earlier this month creates a way to pay for the roads, water lines and sewers that new homes need over time, rather than adding those costs to the price of the house up front.

House Bill 2999, sponsored by State Rep. Jeff Weninger, R-Chandler, creates what the law calls State Affordability Infrastructure Districts. The districts give builders and landowners a way to spread out the cost of the infrastructure tied to a new housing project, instead of paying for all of it before homes go up.

Those up-front costs are a big reason new homes are getting harder to afford, supporters say. Before a house can be built, roads have to be extended, utilities have to be installed, and water and sewer systems have to be connected. Paying for all of that at once raises the price of the home. The new law lets a district borrow money and pay it back over time so the cost is not loaded onto the buyer all at once.

Why It Matters Here

The law is statewide, so it applies to growing communities across Arizona, including the San Tan Valley area. The area is one of the fastest-growing parts of Pinal County, where new homes and the roads and pipes that serve them are a constant subject of local debate. How to pay for road improvements in a fast-growing community is already one of the biggest questions facing local leaders. HB 2999 adds another option for covering those costs on new projects.

Who Pays and Who Decides

The law is built so the debt stays with the project, not the public. A district's bonds and obligations belong only to that district. They cannot pledge the full faith and credit or the taxing power of a city or county, which means taxpayers outside the project are not on the hook if the debt is not repaid.

The law also leaves zoning and land-use decisions with local governments. Cities and counties still handle those approvals, so a district does not change who decides what gets built or where.

Under the law, landowners within a master-planned development can petition the Arizona Finance Authority to form a district. 

Weninger, who chairs the House Commerce Committee, said infrastructure is one of the biggest costs built into the price of a new home and called the law a way to get more homes built without putting taxpayers at risk. HB 2999 passed the Legislature with bipartisan support and was signed into law.