PHOENIX (AP) — State Attorney General Mark Brnovich is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to rule that Tempe violated state law in using property lease tax breaks as economic development incentives.
Brnovich on Thursday sued Tempe at the instigation of a legislator who invoked a state law allowing legislators to obtain legal reviews of actions by local governments.
Republican Rep. Vince Leach of Tucson contends that incentives provided for a Bank of the West building violated limits set by the state.
At issue is Tempe’s use of incentives under which cities lease publicly-owned properties to private developers at a lower tax rate.
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Tempe officials said the city’s reliance on a 2010 resolution authorizing the incentives wasn’t challenged during a 2015 state audit or a subsequent lease approval by the state Department of Revenue.