When the phone rings at Queen Creek Town Hall, Sandra Naegele answers - and she wants to know where you live.

Town officials have long struggled to inform the public about town limits and whether people live in town or in outlying areas which share the mailing address, and sometimes ZIP code.

Click to view a map of Queen Creek's boundaries

"The first thing I ask is 'Where in Queen Creek do you live?'" said Naegele, an administrative assistant who keeps a map of town limits and a list of Pinal County and Maricopa County contact numbers. "I try to get subdivision names or an address. We screen every call."

That's because the town's main phone number receives an average of 15 calls each day from people living outside of the town limits. Those people seek help, services or other information the town cannot provide to them, because they're not Queen Creek taxpayers. The number of calls Naegele reports doesn't include the e-mails and telephone calls made directly to other town departments. Town officials say those numbers are difficult to quantify.

"The post office has created a confusing situation because the ZIP codes in Pinal County refer to Queen Creek - even though it's outside of the town limits," said Town Manager John Kross.

As the town's resources grow thin during tough economic times, there's a heightened awareness of this strain on town resources, he said. As a courtesy the town also provides a handout for nonresidents who contact the town, providing them with phone numbers and resources.

"We want to help as many people as we can, but the reality is we are responsible for the resources in the town limits and we need to be responsible to those people," he said.

Kross said this issue also causes problems for people trying to participate in local government - with the entire area being called "Queen Creek" some folks don't know where to go.

"It's extremely important for people to understand who their local government representatives are," Kross said. "It affects their ability to vote in local elections, get water service, fire or emergency services. That's very frustrating to learn that you aren't in town limits."

Kross said some master-planned communities in Pinal County say they are in Queen Creek but that's misleading.

"We think they're trying to market their community being within a community but it's in an unincorporated area with very little services," he said.

Kross said the blanket naming of Queen Creek also has a direct financial effect beyond the time town employees take to handle inquiries.

"Queen Creek is in the capital markets and they monitor news about the town," Kross said. "It's important to make that distinction (between incorporated and unincorporated Queen Creek). That can have a direct impact on how they view us when they consider re-rating the community."

Town-provided services such as public safety and parks and recreation also see nonresidents seeking services.

Town public safety manager Joe LaFortune said his office handles calls from people wondering if they should renew their subscription with fire service provider Rural/Metro Fire Department. The town started its own department at the beginning of this year and does not cover county islands and areas outside of the town's boundaries. LaFortune said the town also provides back-up for Pinal County Sheriff's Office calls for help when there is a bad crash on Hunt Highway.

Assistant Parks and Recreation director Creighton Wright said Queen Creek's department has higher nonresident participation numbers than other cities and towns. For example, 36 percent of participants in the town's youth sports programs live outside the town limits. In adult programs, 26 percent of participants are nonresidents. There are more nonresidents than residents participating in the town's senior program.

Wright said they will continue to serve nonresidents but it will cost participants.

"We, as a town, have taken a stance that we are going to service people who come to the programs but we do have a nonresident policy that has them pay the cost of the service, if not a little bit more," he said. "We have to segment our registration process to people who live in the town versus those who don't."

But Wright, like other town officials, will continue to focus on informing the public about town boundaries.

"We do deal with it a lot," he said. "We've taught a lot of people where they live but I wouldn't say everyone has a real firm understanding about how the boundaries work."