Collier Center, downtown Phoenix (Photo: HooverDam, Skyscraper Forum)

[Source: Mike Sunnucks, Phoenix Business Journal] – The next shoe to drop in the legal fight over special tax breaks and subsidies for developers could be over the 100 percent tax exemptions ponied up for high-profile projects such as ASU SkySong in Scottsdale and enjoyed by professional sports teams.  That action could come after the Arizona Supreme Court decides whether a $97 million tax break for the CityNorth mixed-use development in northeast Phoenix is constitutional under state law.  A judgment in that case isn’t expected before the end of the year, but those opposed to developer subsidies already are strategizing for future battles.

The first is a lawsuit expected to be filed over government property lease excise taxes, or GPLETs.  These funding mechanisms allow government entities that own land to lease it back to private developers and businesses, which then pay lower-than-normal property taxes.  The Goldwater Institute and Arizona Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, said they plan to file suit to do away with GPLETs.

Cheuvront wants to sue to try to stop the tax breaks.  Clint Bolick, attorney for the Goldwater Institute, said the conservative think tank also is looking at other tax arrangements to determine whether they are legal.  “We’re just beginning to burrow deeply into GPLETs,” Bolick said.  “To the extent that lease rates are below market after tax benefits are taken into consideration, it may represent an illegal subsidy, and also may violate equal protection of the law if similarly situated tenants are paying more in private buildings.”

As that case works its way through the courts, the same skeptics want to go after entities including SkySong, the Arizona Cardinals, the Phoenix Suns, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, which pay no property taxes because they lease their facilities from city or county governments.  None of those arrangements are considered GPLETs, though that mechanism has been used extensively for downtown Phoenix developments including the Colliers Center, Arizona Center, and Renaissance office towers.  The new Cancer Treatment Centers of America hospital in Goodyear also is a GPLET.

Real estate developers and business interests say striking down the CityNorth subsidy, GPLETs or other tax incentives would discourage investments and economic development.  [Note: Read the full article at Property tax exemptions may be next battle in Arizona subsidy war.]

[Source: Lynn Ducey, Phoenix Business Journal] – A handful of Valley restaurateurs and Local First Arizona are banding together to promote independent eateries across metro Phoenix through a new group called Devour Phoenix.  Local First Arizona is a grassroots nonprofit aimed at supporting homegrown companies and encouraging state residents to do the same.

A handful of entrepreneurs and chefs have formed a steering committee to put the Devour Phoenix idea into motion.  The fledgling effort has yet to map out a to-do list, but organizers say they could tackle everything from a restaurant crawl and shared advertising to pooled purchasing power on restaurant supplies.  “I think it’s really important that people realize there are great eating establishments in Phoenix.  We offer original ideas and different concepts,” said Arizona Sen. Ken Cheuvront, a steering committee member and owner of Cheuvront Restaurant & Wine Bar on Central Avenue in Phoenix.  [Note: Read the full article at Independent restaurants aim to Devour Phoenix and Phoenix New Times' coverage of the same.]

Because when bigot Republicans don’t get their way, they just disregard the rules!

We just got back from the state Capitol, where the Senate voted to force another constitutional amendment to define marriage on the ballot. What happened tonight was disgraceful, but that doesn’t change the fact that we will be facing another anti-LGBT amendment this November. It’s true. The Arizona Legislature caved to the coercion of a little-known group, the Center for Arizona Policy, led by an extremist fundamentalist — Cathi Herrod. The Legislature ignored the people of Arizona, who already voted down a similar amendment. The Senate approved Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 1042 tonight, and they broke the rules, along with the sanctity of the Senate, to do so.

(…)

Senate extremists strategically broke the rules of the Senate, which govern the processes for discussion and voting on bills. During a filibuster-like discussion on another bill during Committee of the Whole, Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor (R-22) and Majority Whip John Huppenthal (R-20), among others, devised a scheme with committee chairman Jack Harper (R-4) to outright violate the rules of the Senate and the rights of Senators Aboud and Cheuvront.

In the middle of their discussion, Senator Harper turned off the microphones of Senators Paula Aboud (D-28 ) and Ken Cheuvront (D-15) and called on the Majority Leader to make a motion. Then, when Senators Aboud and Cheuvront loudly called for a Point of Order several times, even walking to the front desk where Senator Harper sat, he deliberately ignored their calls. To add insult to injury, these people attempted to justify their actions, even after the Senate President and other Senators admonished them for deliberately breaking the rules. Tonight’s actions of these and other Senators have forever tainted that body, and it’s important that we all let the people of Arizona know how these individuals acted so unethically.

What’s so ridiculous about these extremist bigots pushing a marriage discrimination amendment onto the November ballot is that Arizona voted down one of these bigot amendments in 2006. Earth to stupid fundamentalists: Public opinion on this issue gets more liberal every year, not more conservative. It’s really pathetic when people can’t accept that they’ve already lost. Wasted lives. As I’ve said many times, extremist conservatives hide behind The Constitution, because to stand in front of it would require that they read it, understand it, and revere it, something they may not be capable of, mentally.

These people are absolutely contemptuous of our American democracy. People need to understand this. This is why they rail against mythical “activist judges,” why they rail against activist legislatures, and in the case of Arizona, absolutely disregard the will of the people. They are too scared to live in a democracy, because they are too scared to make choices for themselves. Their religion is a daddy-figure. Their political loyalties are to daddy-figures. And we all know, Daddy knows best! Unless Daddy is a genocidal fuckwit maniac…

Yeah.

Please join Phyllis Rowe, Jak Keyser, Ruth Ann Marston, Bradley Brauer, GG George, Jill Gering, and special guests Phoenix City Council Member Michael Nowakowski, State Senator Ken Cheuvront, and State Senator Debbie McCune Davis at a “house party” to help end predatory payday lending in the Grand Canyon State.

• Date: Thursday, April 24, 2008
• Time: 5:30 to 7:30 pm
• Place: The L.C. Lashmet House, 534 W. Granada Road, Phoenix
• RSVP: On or before April 21 to Jill Gering by phone 602-254-9711 or e-mail.

Stop Payday Predators is a coalition of community groups, businesses, and concerned citizens across Arizona who are sick and tired of the payday loan industry gouging hard working Arizonans and are determined to put an end to it on the 2008 ballot.  Donations to Stop Payday Predators are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.  For more information, click here.

For you history buffs, the L.C. Lashmet House was designed by Luther Lashmet and custom built for Luther and his wife Mary in 1929. Mr. Lashmet is noted for designing the Historic Navajo Bridge over Marble Canyon, completed the same year.

[Source: Mike Sunnucks, Phoenix Business Journal] — The National Federation of Independent Business is backing efforts at the state Legislature to restrict property tax breaks Arizona cities dole out to real estate developers and larger businesses.  State Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, has proposed Senate Bill 1260 to limit deals that involve keeping certain land in public hands and then leasing it to private entities.  Those actions allow the private developer or business to pay lower property taxes because the land is owned by a government entity.  Cheuvront wants to reform the so-called Government Property Lease Excise Taxes to put the practice more on par with traditional property taxes.

US Airways Group Inc.’s corporate headquarters in Tempe, Cabela’s sporting goods store in Glendale, the Scottsdale Princess Resort, and several major downtown Phoenix developments, including the Colliers Center, CityScape, and Arizona Center, all benefited from GPLET tax breaks.  NFIB state Director Michelle Bolton said the property tax breaks from cities help a few “giant development companies and big businesses.   The system is gamed and it’s criminal,” said Bolton of the specialized tax breaks.  NFIB prefers across-the-board lower taxes and a friendly environment for all businesses, including smaller operations.  Cities and economic developers who support the GPLET practice counter that it helps projects and developments that otherwise would not get built in the state.

[Source: Mike Sunnucks, Business Journal of Phoenix] – Real estate developers, city governments, and heavyweight business interests have come out in force against a state measure that would restrict special property tax breaks for development projects and certain businesses.  State Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, wants to restrict cities from doling out Government Property Lease Excise Tax deals.  GPLETs involve cities leasing their land to developers and businesses, allowing the latter to pay lower property taxes than if they owned the land.

Several downtown Phoenix office projects (including the Colliers Center and Arizona Center), Cabela’s sporting good store in Glendale, a planned private hospital in Goodyear, and Arizona State University’s SkySong tech center in Scottsdale are GPLETs.

Cheuvront contends GPLETs are “corporate welfare” and wants the state to impose new rules restricting their use under Senate Bill 1360.  But the idea faces a host of business, real estate, and local government critics who say the tax breaks help economic development.  They prefer a less strident bill put forward by state Rep. John Nelson, R-Glendale, which would establish standard procedures for handing out GPLETs.  Backers of the Nelson measure, House Bill 2803, include several Arizona cities, a number of chambers of commerce, and a host of real estate interests, including the International Council of Shopping Centers, Westcor, DMB Associates, Valley Partnership, Suncor Development Co., and RED Development.  Cheuvront said city governments and real estate developers are trying to stall his bill in the Legislature.

[Note: Click here to read related Arizona Republic column by Laurie Roberts.]