Subject: Public Finance

• DEAF AND TAXES

  NOBODY WANTED TO HEAR HOW THE RUN-DOWN ART COLONY WAS VALUED AT $10.5 MILLION

  June 16, 1993

• WELCOME TO PRESCOTT, CALIFORNIAWEST COAST YUPPIES ARE MAKING EVERYBODY'S HOMETOWN TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ITS OWN RESIDENT

  February 9, 1994

• THE NUKE GETS TAX BREAKS WHILE THE COUNTY FLOUNDERS

  April 27, 1994

• DANGEROUS GAMES, YOUR MONEYA NEW TIMES INVESTIGATION

  April 27, 1994

• WANNA BUY A $70 MILLION LAKE?SALES-TAX-BACKED BONDS WILL JUMP-START TEMPE'S STALLED RIO SALADO PROJECT

  April 27, 1995

• WELFARE FOR GOLFTHE GOVERNMENT IS SUBSIDIZING MORE AND MORE WATER-SLURPING, PESTICIDE-LACED GOLF COURSES--EVEN THOUGH THE VALLEY ALREADY HAS 130 OF THEM

  August 31, 1995

• Sumitomo Wrestling

  Government officials are crowing about the deal that brought Sumitomo's silicon-wafer factory to northeast Phoenix. But they haven't mentioned that the deal will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

  December 7, 1995

• When Revolution Meets Reality

  Governor Symington says his massive tax cuts have brought prosperity to Arizona. Actually, they are bringing on a fiscal train wreck that could damage the state for decades.

  December 28, 1995

• The High Cost of Education Reform

  The Symington administration touts market-based reform as a cure for Arizona's educational ills. Behind that rhetoric, state policies are driving public schools toward financial collapse.

  December 28, 1995

• A Pain in the Assessment

  Some nonprofits get propertytax bills from Maricopa County

  February 22, 1996

• Flashes

  May 23, 1996

• Children of Synanon

  An acclaimed Tucson drug-treatment program went suddenly, mysteriouly bankrupt. Administrators blame the board of directors. But others are questioning the administrators and their history at the notorious drug-treatment empire known as Synanon.

  October 10, 1996

• Fife's Myth

  Symington's tax cuts had little or nothing to do with Arizona's economic boom, which isn't as robust as it's made out to be

  October 9, 1997

• Letters

  October 23, 1997

• Sun City Disease

  Every 10 years, retirement communities sweat local school-funding increases and flare up in anti-tax fever. This year's infection is in the Dysart Unified School District.

  March 5, 1998

• Letters

  October 22, 1998

• A Proposition 200 Close-Up

  October 29, 1998

• The Tony and John Show

  Ten years of greasing the wheels for a real estate big shot make Tony West a spooky choice for voters

  October 29, 1998

• Budget Bonanza or Bust?

  Discord between GOP lawmakers and the governor is just one reason the budget battle might get ugly.

  January 7, 1999

• Tax Breaks Thicker Than Thieves ... when industry sidles over for a handout

  January 7, 1999

• Letters

  January 14, 1999

• A Fortune Runs Through It

  Tempe has long given the impression its Rio Salado project costs $45 million. The actual taxpayer tab could surpass $200 million.

  May 20, 1999

• Lost Arcos

  Officials suppress documents that say how much developers would profit from a hockey arena and commercial complex that's seeking at least $350 million in public subsidies

  October 28, 1999

• "Hos" Hoskins, County Treasurer, Preparing to Sue County Again on Budget Issue

  The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors can tell an elected county official how much money to spend each year, but aren't supposed to dictate how the money is spent. Yet that's exactly what the supervisors are trying to do at the County Treasurer's office, says the treasurer, Charles "Hos" Hoskins. To stop them from "meddling," Hoskins tells New Times he's preparing a lawsuit he expects to file in a couple of weeks. It will be the second time Hoskins, who has been treasurer since the beginning

  December 22, 2008

• Congressman John Shadegg to Appear at April 15 "Tea Party" to Protest New Taxes

    Hundreds of people are expected to show up on the State Capitol lawn on April 15 to protest taxation, including Republican Congressman John Shadegg (at left), say organizers of the "Tax Day Tea Party." The shin-dig, which takes place from 5:30-7 p.m., is being led by American for Prosperity and right-wing personalities like State Senator Russell Pearce, former Congressman J.D. Hayworth and talk-show host Bruce Jacobs. While the line-up alone may be a turn off for many left-

  April 7, 2009

• The Dirty Truth about "Clean" Elections

  April 2, 2009

• CityNorth: We’re Giving Away $97 Million for This?

  December 4, 2008

• A Currency Affair

  Silly us. We thought the best coin joke was the Susan B Anthony dollar.

  March 6, 2008

• History of Deceit

  Why should we approve this bond election when Phoenix City Hall has lied to us big-time in the past?

  March 2, 2006

• Tepid Response Force

  The county attorney promises to get to the bottom of Sheriff Arpaio's spending--by asking for a state audit that was already scheduled

  February 22, 1996

• Elephant Slayer

  Napolitano deftly played politics this legislative session to fend off all GOP foes

  May 26, 2005

• Send in the Clowns

  January 20, 2005

• Tax Broke

  Why is the state budget in crisis? Ask your legislators.

  September 26, 2002

• Lab Rats

  The University of Arizona's push to become one of the nation's great research institutions has paid off -- but at what cost to the state, faculty and students?

  December 20, 2001

• Fiscal Fissure

  Deep cuts proposed to state budget set up bleak future for Arizonans

  November 29, 2001

• Fuel's Gold

  Consumers clamor for big state bucks under alternative-fuel incentive program

  September 28, 2000

• Stapley Manner

  County Supervisor Don Stapley made a killing on a shady development and sank the profits into a mansion. Then he told the tax assessor to value his estate at $863,000 -- while listing it for sale at $2.5 million.

  June 1, 2000

• BOB's a Bust

  Bank One Ballpark was touted as a powerful economic engine for downtown. Data show, however, that BOB has fueled sales mostly for BOB. The meager spillover doesn't bode well for the Arizona Cardinals' stadium aspirations.

  March 9, 2000

• Abated Breath

  October 28, 1999

• House of Cards

  The taxpayers would get soaked and the Arizona Cardinals would get fat at Rio Salado Crossing

  April 8, 1999

• A Different School of Thought

  The state's unabashed enthusiasm for charter schools stops at the borders of Indian reservations

  July 23, 1998

• Joe Enhancement Fund

  Sheriff Arpaio used jail-enhancement funds to pay for a lawsuit and videos of hisTV appearances

  February 8, 1996

• Class Reaction

  Legal aid to farmworkers and Indians slashed as Congress seeks end to mass lawsuits

  December 7, 1995

• Fife Pays His Taxes

  October 19, 1995

• FEDS PROBING COUNTY BOND SALES

  SECURITIES OFFICIALS INVESTIGATING WHETHER COUNTY HID DEBT AND DECEIVED INVESTORS

  January 12, 1995

• Governor Brewer Keeps Up Offensive on Budget Bill

  Governor Jan Brewer is keeping up the pressure on lawmakers today to send her a budget plan, calling a news conference this morning at 11 a.m. on the steps of the Arizona Supreme Court. Brewer told reporters yesterday she is asking the Supreme Court justices to force State Senate President Bob Burns to send her 10 bills that make up the state budget -- so she can veto them. Brewer has her own ideas about how to fix the state's money problems, and has promised it won't require a ne

  June 16, 2009

• Scottsdale Man Pleads Guilty to Bringing in Chinese Viagra-Type Drug and Fraud Charges

  What a scammer! Timothy Keay Isaac, 47, pleaded guilty today in federal court to a slew of charges related to his illicit company, which brought into the country a Chinese Viagra-like drug without prescriptions. But this is the part that bugs us: In 2006, Isaac applied for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration and received $35,000. Yet that very same year, the con-man took out a mortgage on a $2.9 million house. Our question: Where was the Social Security Administration -

  June 26, 2009

• AFL-CIO Calls Two State Reps "Heroes" for Voting "No" on Republican Bills; Huppenthal's Trial Delayed

  Daniel Patterson State Representatives Daniel Patterson and Jack Brown were called "heroes" this week by the AFL-CIO for their committment to vote "no" on most Republican bills. Patterson and Brown began their voting boycott a couple of weeks ago and haven't yet relented, resulting in some kind words from the labor union:  

  June 23, 2009

• Phoenix Mayor Gordon Won't Support Latest Budget Bill; Governor Brewer "Disappointed" in Some State Senators

  Phil Gordon​ Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon says he can't support the legislature's current budget proposal, despite Governor Jan Brewer's urging to do so. In a news release sent out this evening by the city (see text below), Gordon says changes to property tax collection rates will lower the amount of bond money Phoenix could obtain by $160 million. That will mean fewer new public safety buildings, libraries, senior centers and other infrastructure needs, he says. The new budget takes away abo

  August 12, 2009

• This Just In: The AZ Economy Really, Really Sucks

  ​We didn't exactly need a think tank to tell us how bad things have gotten here in Arizona, but what the heck -- if one wants to quantify our state's woe, who are we not immerse ourselves in the sad details?This week's bad news comes from this month's Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government's State Revenue Report. And while it helpfully explains that the economy is bad everywhere, it also provides proof that in Arizona, things are even worse than bad. Our personal income has fallen, our

  October 27, 2009