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Residents of the unincorporated area of Vail voted against incorporation Tuesday by 56 percent to 44 percent.
The vote was 1,838 opposed and 1,441 in favor of forming a town government in the area on Tucson's far southeast side. The area designated in the proposed incorporation has an estimated 11,500 residents.
"All I can say is the citizens have voted in a democratic process," said Rob Samuelsen, a member of the Citizens for Vail Committee, which pushed incorporation. "Obviously the population in Vail doesn't feel like it's the right time. Life goes on."
He said the committee members have not decided whether to pursue incorporation again.
"If somebody wants to do that in the future, it will be their prerogative in the future," Samuelsen said.
Incorporation would have made Vail a town, including authority over building and development plans, and it would allow levying of taxes by an elected town council. The area currently us under jurisdiction of Pima County.
Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild had expressed support for the incorporation initiative, saying cities and towns get state shared revenue based on population, and the more people in incorporated areas, the more shared revenue comes to the metro area.
Pima County's last incorporation election was in 2001, when a vote to create a municipality in Casas Adobes northwest of Tucson city limits was turned away by voters.
The Citizens for Vail Committee spent years surveying residents, researching governance options and gathering signatures to put the incorporation question on the Election Day ballot.