In September 1988, the Arizona Community Facilities District Act was passed into law. Generally speaking, the Act allows for the formation of a community facilities district (CFD) by a municipality or county for the purpose of constructing or acquiring a public infrastructure. And while the Act is now almost 16 years old, it has not been until recently that Arizona has experienced a proliferation  of CFDs.

In response to the increasing number of CFDs arising throughout the state, the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (ARMLS), in September 2013, added a yes/no tab to its Residential Profile Sheet to denote whether a property falls within the boundaries of a CFD. ARMLS listing participants should therefore endeavor to determine this information and appropriately populate this field on the Residential Profile Sheet and Residential Input Form.

But regardless of the information contained on the MLS, a prospective buyer should always independently research the presence of a CFD during their inspection period.  This is of vital importance because the presence of a CFD may result in an additional tax burden imposed upon the buyer.

While there are a number of methods a buyer can use to research the presence of a CFD, perhaps the most reliable is by contacting the county treasurer or assessor.  For example, prospective buyers in Maricopa County can visit the website for the Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office, located at http://treasurer.maricopa.gov.  By way of this site, the buyer can enter a property’s Parcel Number in the appropriately marked box on the left hand side of the home page.  After searching by Parcel Number, the buyer will be taken to a Tax Summary page for the subject property.  By clicking on the link titled View Tax Details, then scrolling down to a box titled Special Tax Districts, the buyer will be able to ascertain whether a property falls within the boundaries of a CFD. Having obtained this information, the buyer will now be in position to make a more informed decision regarding their contemplated purchase.