(July 11, 2023) Vail incorporation effort takes next step: The organizers of Incorporate Vail Arizona are asking the Pima County Board of Supervisors to approve circulating a petition so the measure can be put on the ballot in November, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher wrote in a memo to the board. The supervisors also will consider allowing the creation of three “county islands,” areas that would not be incorporated, at the Tuesday board meeting. (Tucson Agenda)

(July 12, 2023) One step closer: Pima County supervisors approved the signature collection for a proposed ballot measure that would make Vail its own town, the Arizona Daily Star’s Nicole Ludden reports. Backers now have until August 8 to collect valid signatures from more than 1,500 registered voters in Vail in order for the incorporation question to make it onto the November ballot.

(August 23, 2023) Incorporation makes the ballot: Vail residents may get the chance to decide whether to form their own town government after Pima County supervisors agreed Monday to put the issue on the ballot, *Arizona Public Media’*s Steve Jess reports. If the effort survives potential court challenges, it will appear on the November 7 ballot for Vail voters.

(September 4, 2023) No initiative, no pamphlet: Voters in Vail won’t get a publicity pamphlet when they cast their ballots in November to decide whether they should incorporate, County Administrator Jan Lesher wrote in an Aug. 30 memo to the Board of Supervisors. Vail residents had been asking Supervisor Steve Christy about the pamphlets, but because the election does not involve a ballot initiative, the county won’t send out the pamphlets.

(September 12, 2023) To incorporate or not to incorporate: Concerns surrounding the potential Vail incorporation boil down to roads, taxes and development, AZPM’s Conover writes. Those in favor of incorporation say the move would give Vail more control over land use, but those opposed also say that staying unincorporated will protect the land from development. Some residents are also concerned about paying the bills for the potential new town, which would come with a proposed 2% tax. Vail’s previous attempt to incorporate in 2013 was defeated by nearly a 10 percentage point margin.

(September 21, 2023) Is it a sign?: Campaign signs have become victims in the battle over Vail’s potential incorporation, with both sides saying their signs are being vandalized and destroyed, KGUN’s Andres Rendon reports. Supporters of the incorporation say eight of their large signs have been run over, cut, slashed in half or removed. They also say the opposition is putting up signs that shouldn’t be allowed because the group is anonymous and there’s no organized effort to oppose the incorporation. The opponents say campaign laws allow an individual to purchase signs and other materials as long as they’re spending their own money below a certain threshold.

(September 22, 2023) Who’d like to run Vail?: If the Vail incorporation effort wins in November, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will appoint a seven-member town council. They will serve until an election in May, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher wrote in a memo. You just have to be 18 years old, registered to vote, and a resident for at least 12 months at an address within the proposed boundaries to apply.

(November 1, 2023) Say “yes” to incorporation: The Tucson Metro Chamber has endorsed the proposed Vail incorporation, Inside Tucson Business reports. The chamber says that now is the right time for residents to have greater local control over decisions related to zoning, land use, public safety, recreation and transportation needs and requirements. The incorporation of Vail will result in an estimated $10 million annually allocated to the new town.

(November 8, 2023) Other elections: The Vail incorporation effort failed and the vote on whether to raise the salaries of Tucson’s mayor and council was still too close to call, the Tucson Sentinel staff report. Voters approved the Tucson Unified School District’s $480 million bond, the Sahuarita Unified School District’s $50 million bond, and the Sunnyside Unified School District’s budget override requests, the Arizona Daily Star’s Jessica Votipka reports.

“This proposition ladders up to our public policy agenda priorities around land use, transportation infrastructure and economic development,” said chamber President and CEO Michael Guymon.