The Pima County Board of Supervisors recently approved designating the Rocking K South residential development southeast of Tucson as a Community Facilities District (CFD).

CFDs are more commonly used by municipalities for financing infrastructure for developments, such as roads and water and sewer lines, Pima County said on its website. CFDs can sell general obligation bonds to fund infrastructure, with the bonds being paid off through property tax revenues.

The CFD in Rocking K South will consists of 2,000 acres and is planned to have approximately 3,600 housing units, plus commercial development, parks and open space, the county said.

Counties were authorized to create CFDs by the state legislature in the 2000s, Pima County said. “However this is the first time (Pima County) has created one as new construction rebounds from the development downturn caused by the Great Recession,” the county said.

CFDs are legal entities and the county, while overseeing the district, is not liable for the infrastructure costs or for the debt, the county said. The CFD will allow the developer to set a lower price on the homes since the infrastructure costs will be repaid over time through property taxes rather than all at once through property sales, the county said.