For the past few years, residents in Southern Arizona have asked the Arizona Legislature to investigate the Rio Nuevo TIF District. Last year, Senator Steve Pierce ensured that the legislature could make no move against it by placing powerful businessman and big campaign donor, Fletcher McCusker, in charge of the controversial TIF district.
According to highly placed legislative sources, Pierce’s appointment was safe from Senate President Biggs, who clung to the idea that if he left Rio Nuevo alone and did not replace McCusker with a watchdog member, Pierce would show him mercy and not have him removed from power.
Before being voted out as Senate president, Pierce removed Rio Nuevo’s watchdog Board members Jodi Bain and Rick Grinnell, and put McCusker and Chris Sheafe on the Board.
Biggs kept his position but essentially sacrificed his power. Now, Pierce is grabbing what he can.
Pierce told reporters on Monday that his progressive Republican caucus will fight for Common Core funding. It is also likely, according to sources, that they will fight any legislation that would increase oversight of TIF and other Special Districts.
According to the agenda for today’s meeting of the Rio Nuevo Board, “The Board’s Legislative lobbyist, Jonathan Paton, will update the Board on his efforts and the Board may vote to direct Mr. Paton’s actions during the current legislative session.”
Rio Nuevo’s lobbyist, Jonathan Paton was married this past summer at Pierce’s ranch. Paton has been given strict instruction, according to sources inside Rio Nuevo, to protect the District and McCusker’s future plans at all cost.
According to the Goldwater Institute, a shadow government has been growing virtually unnoticed for the past 30 years, and its spending is rising even faster than burgeoning federal and state spending. Yet, few taxpayers are even aware of this layer of government that is substantially increasing their own tax bills and crowding out private enterprise.
In a report released Thursday, Goldwater Institute senior economist Steve Slivinski traces the rampant growth of special taxing districts since the 1970s, arguing that significant reforms are needed. Operating behind the scenes, special taxing districts have the power to tax, spend and issue debt just like traditional governments, yet they are far less accountable and transparent.
Typically created to levy new taxes and issue debt, special districts are driving much of the growth of total government spending at the local level, in part because they are not subject to state spending limits. Many of the services offered by special districts are functions that could either remain within the purview of traditional municipal governments or services that can be best provided by the private sector.
Few taxpayers are aware of special district spending, in part because elections for new special districts often occur at non-traditional times of the year, when special-interest groups — in particular, labor unions — can rally their supporters to control their outcome. Voter turnout in special district elections rarely exceeds 20 percent.
According to U.S. Census data, total real per-capita local government spending (excluding education) grew 59 percent from 1977 to 2007, during which real per-capita special district spending more than doubled, growing 118 percent.
“If special district spending were a line-item in an average local government’s ledger, it would be the third largest spending item, right behind welfare and education,” said Slivinski. “Conservatives concerned about the overall size and scope of government should turn their attention toward special districts and how they violate the spirit of the government tax and expenditure limits that have been on the books for three decades in many states.”
Slivinski recommends several changes to state law related to special taxing districts, including requiring special districts to be subject to existing constitutional spending limits, increasing transparency safeguards, and ensuring that elections authorizing new special districts occur at times when a significant number of voters are likely to participate.
The Goldwater Institute will work with Arizona legislators this spring to implement several of these reforms.
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Moore and Hill reveal the truth about Rio Nuevo (transcript)