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Audit says state leased land to Saudi company at rates below market
State Auditor General Lindsey Perry is blasting the State Land Department for leasing land to a Saudi-owned company in western Arizona for below-market rates and not requiring it to pay for – or even report – the amount of groundwater it has been using.
State offers bargain basement deal for land – but most can’t bid
More than four square miles of state land in Apache Junction is being auctioned off this coming month for what might seem like bargain-basement prices.
Here is what is working in Arizona
The business and private sectors should appreciate the goals of the Ducey administration’s initiative to improve government referred to as the Arizona Management System (AMS), which focuses on understanding “customer” needs, identifying problems, improving processes and measuring results.
AG seeks dismissal of Land Department suit, plaintiff wants assurance
The Attorney General’s Office’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit challenging a proposal to make the state Land Department self-funding may contain the genesis of at least a temporary solution to the legal battle.
Supreme Court rejects funding mechanism for Land Department
The Arizona Supreme Court today rejected lawmakers’ decision in 2009 to divert a portion of revenues from the state trust lands to pay for the operations of the State Land Department.
Court of Appeals blocks Land Department funding scheme
The Arizona State Land Department will have to rely on its backup plan for funding after the Arizona Court of Appeals forbade it from the proceeds from trust land sales for its budget.
Court considers ruling on funding for Ariz. agency
An Arizona appeals court on Wednesday considers whether to block a judge's ruling that a state agency will effectively scuttle most of its funding.
Longtime policy advisor Ken Rozen passes away
Ken Rozen, a longtime policy advisor and legislative liaison to the state Land Department and Corporation Commission, died July 23. He was 56.
Schools, others fear new trust-land law
A freshly passed budget bill granting the Arizona State Land Department the ability to raise money independently to pay for the costs of state trust land management could face a legal challenge based on federal law that is almost 100 years old.
Brewer signs environment bill, but no action on rest of budget
Gov. Jan Brewer signed one bill from the budget package the Legislature sent to her desk, but the crucial questions of whether she will sign or veto the rest of the bills won't be answered until next week.
New land commissioner wrapped up in Renzi’s legal tangle
Former U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi’s attempt to have the federal case against him dismissed may hinge on conversations he had with Arizona’s new state land commissioner.
Phoenix Councilwoman Baier named state land commissioner
Gov. Jan Brewer named Phoenix City Councilwoman Maria Baier as the new state land commissioner. "(Baier) brings numerous years of outstanding experience in the public and private sectors, with expertise in the areas of land use, natural resource management, growth and development and environmental quality," Brewer stated in a press release June 16.
