SB1498 - 551R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 11-211, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE11-211. Membership; qualifications; term

A. There shall be in each county having a population of one hundred seventy-five thousand or more persons a board of supervisors consisting of five members who shall be qualified electors of their supervisorial district, and who shall be elected at a general election at which the president of the United States is elected. In each county having a population of less than one hundred seventy-five thousand persons, a board of supervisors shall consist of three members, except as prescribed by subsection B or C of this section, who in each county there shall be a board of supervisors consisting of a number of members based on the county population as follows:

1. for counties with a population of less than one hundred seventy-five thousand persons, three members, except as prescribed by subsection c or d of this section.

2. for counties with a population of one hundred seventy-five thousand or more persons but less than one million persons, five members.

3. for counties with a population of one million or more persons but less than three million persons, seven members.

4. for counties with a population of three million or more persons, nine members.

b. each member of the board shall be a qualified electors elector of their the member's supervisorial district and who shall be elected at a general election at which the president of the United States is elected. They shall enter on their duties on January 1 subsequent to their election, and shall hold office for four years. No person holding any other county or precinct office is eligible to the office of supervisor.

B. c. Any county having with a population of less than one hundred fifty thousand persons but more than one hundred thousand persons shall call an election to change from a three-member to a five-member board of supervisors, or from a five-member to a three-member board of supervisors, on receipt by the board of supervisors of a petition containing signatures of qualified electors equal to at least ten percent of the votes cast in the county at the preceding general election at which a president of the United States was elected. The board shall submit to the electors in the county, at a special election called for that purpose, the question of whether or not the county shall elect five members or three members to the board of supervisors. The election shall be held before the first Monday in January preceding the next general election. The ballots shall contain the words: "Five supervisors, yes. Five supervisors, no." or "Three supervisors, yes. Three supervisors, no." If the majority of the qualified electors voting on the question votes in the affirmative, the board of supervisors shall redistrict the county in accordance with section 11-212. The county shall thereafter elect the prescribed number of members to the board of supervisors who shall be elected in the manner provided in subsection A b of this section and have the same qualifications as provided in subsection A b of this section for a board of supervisors with a population of one hundred seventy-five thousand or more persons, and shall hold office for a term of four years to commence on January 1.

C. d. Any county having with a population of at least one hundred fifty thousand persons but not more than one hundred seventy-five thousand persons and having with a county board of supervisors that consists of three persons shall submit to the electors in the county, at the next general election after the release of the population estimate from the office of economic opportunity, the question of whether the county shall elect five members to the board of supervisors. The ballots must contain the words: "Five supervisors, yes. Five supervisors, no." If approved by a majority of the qualified electors of that county who voted on the question, the board of supervisors shall redistrict the county pursuant to section 11-212. The county thereafter shall elect at the next general election immediately following the election at which the question is approved the prescribed number of members to the board of supervisors who shall have the same qualifications as provided in subsection A B of this section. The following apply to the election for the county board of supervisors prescribed in this subsection:

1. If the next general election immediately following the election at which the question is approved is held in a year that is the last year of the four-year term of the three members of the county board of supervisors who are already holding office, the five persons elected to the county board of supervisors hold office for a term of four years to commence on January 1 immediately following their election.

2. If the next general election immediately following the election at which the question is approved is held in a year that is not the last year of the four-year term of the three members of the county board of supervisors who are already holding office, the two additional persons elected to the county board of supervisors hold office for a term of four years to commence on January 1 immediately following their election. The three members of the county board of supervisors who are already holding office continue to serve their four-year terms of office without regard to whether they are residents of the newly redrawn supervisorial districts for the remainder of those four-year terms. Thereafter, members of the board of supervisors must be residents of their supervisorial district and the term of office for members of that county board of supervisors shall be staggered four-year terms.

3. For the election at which the question of whether the county shall elect five members to the board of supervisors is on the ballot, the county shall include in the publicity pamphlet an estimate of the cost to the county for each additional member to the board of supervisors.

4. For the purposes of this subsection, "population" means the population according to the annual population estimate provided by the office of economic opportunity. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 11-212, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE11-212. Supervisorial districts

a. The board of supervisors shall meet at the county seat on or before December 1 following the release of the United States decennial census data and divide the county into three, or five, seven or nine supervisorial districts as provided in this article, which shall be numbered, respectively:,

1. Districts one, two and three. or

2. Districts one, two, three, four and five.

3. districts one, two, three, four, five, six and seven.

4. districts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine.

b. The board shall define the boundaries and limits of each district and make the division equal or with not more than ten per cent percent difference in population. The county may redistrict as often as deemed necessary between each United States decennial census.

Sec. 3. Section 48-5105, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE48-5105. Board of directors

A. A board composed of the following members shall govern the authority:

1. From each municipality that enters into the authority, one elected official who is appointed by the respective governing body of the municipality.

2. One county supervisor who is appointed by the county board of supervisors, if the county enters into the authority.

B. The term of each member is two years unless the member is no longer serving in the member's elected capacity, in which case the membership is vacant. The respective governing body shall fill a vacancy under subsection A of this section.

C. Each municipality or county may provide for an alternate board member who is also an elected official. Section 11-211, subsection A b does not apply to a county supervisor serving on the board. If an elected official of a municipality is prohibited from serving on the board, the governing body of the municipality shall appoint an official of the municipality who is not prohibited from serving on the board.

D. The voting members of the authority are entitled to one vote for each member unless a voting member requests a weighted vote. If a weighted vote is requested, the following apply:

1. Each member of the board is entitled to a percentage vote based on the proportion of the population the member represents to the total population represented by all members of the board, except as provided in paragraph 4 of this subsection.

2. If a municipality is a member of the board, its proportion of the population shall be calculated on the basis of the population in the incorporated area of the municipality.

3. If the county is a member of the board, its proportion of the population shall be calculated on the basis of the population in the unincorporated area of the county.

4. The weighted vote of any single member shall not exceed forty per cent percent of the total weighted vote. If any member's proportion of the population as calculated in this subsection entitles it to a weighted vote in excess of forty per cent percent, the limitation on its percentage does not affect the calculation of the weighted vote of each other member.

E. For the purpose of preliminary approval of a regional public transportation system plan, the voting provisions of subsection D of this section apply, except that if a weighted vote is requested, in addition to the provisions provided in subsection D of this section relating to a weighted vote, a minimum of one-third of the voting members is also required for preliminary approval of the plan. END_STATUTE