Court: Ariz. lawmakers violated constitution
PHOENIX – Arizona legislators violated the state Constitution when they diverted proceeds from the state land trust to help balance the budget, the state Supreme Court ruled this week.
In a unanimous decision, the justices rejected arguments by the Brewer administration that it is permissible to fund the Land Department with trust funds rather than money from general tax revenues. The move, made three years ago, was designed to free up those tax dollars for other priorities.
Wednesday's ruling means lawmakers looking to balance next year's budget will have to find another source of cash.
An earlier ruling prevented the transfer of trust funds for the current budget. But the money lawmakers did come up with to run the agency this year is from a special risk-retention fund, essentially the state's savings account to pay for lawsuit settlements. And that is only a temporary solution.
State Land Commissioner Vanessa Hickman said her job now will be to convince lawmakers to find the approximately $13 million a year necessary to run her agency.
When Arizona became a state in 1912 it got 10 million acres of land from the federal government.
That land specified the proceeds from the sale or lease of those lands were designed for specific beneficiaries, mainly public schools.
About 9.3 million acres remain.
In 2009, though, lawmakers, with the support of the governor, voted to let the state land commissioner divert up to 10 percent of what was raised in the prior fiscal year in proceeds from all trusts, including not just sales but revenues generated from the sale of minerals and timber.
That move allowed lawmakers to entirely eliminate taxpayer funding used to run the Land Department so funds could be shifted to plug other budget holes.
Proponents of the move argued it would help the trust – and the beneficiaries – in the long run, saying it will enable the agency to get land ready to sell when the real estate market returns and developers want it again, presumably at a higher price. Foes of the move sued.
Justice Scott Bales, writing for the high court, said lawmakers ignored one thing: the Arizona Constitution which requires that proceeds from the sale of state lands and of products from those land must be deposited into the permanent fund.
