A hidden-in-plain-sight $20 million theft from Arizona schools

by David Safier

The things you learn reading the Capitol Times! Today I learned that, in a cost cutting move, the legislature managed to save something like $20 million in funding for the Arizona State Land Department. (Cap Times is subscription only.)

Did the lege get rid of the agency or somehow streamline it? Nope. In 2009, it said the agency would be self funded, using money from land sales proceeds to pay for its operations.

And what is the money the department is using to fund itself supposed to be used for? It's dedicated to the school trust, which is how all state trust land sales are supposed to be used.

The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest managed to get the courts to end the self funding mechanism as of June 30, but the Land Department wants to keep the unconstitutional funding scheme going another year. That means, on top of all the other budget cuts public schools have suffered, another $20 million and counting is being stolen from them.