Budgets & Funding

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Three Tax Breaks for Liquidity During Crisis  Wading through the tax legislation implications of the 2017 tax reform and 2020 CARES Act can be overwhelming for many real estate companies. Three tax breaks, however, …

Economic News  Online Shopping & Delivery Squeezes Landlords  Digital grocery sales have soared, but potential aftershocks are significant for smaller tenants that occupy grocer-anchored centers that depend on grocers to draw in customers. Those tenants pay higher rents than they …

Economic News  80 Percent of Retail Tenants Paid July Rent  Fewer than 60 percent of national brand retail tenants paid their rents in May, but 80 percent mailed the checks in July, according to the Datex Tenant Track of more than 1,000 shopping centers and tens …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Phoenix Has $9M+ Left for Business Grants  With more than $9M still left sitting idle in a Phoenix grant program set up to help small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, city officials …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  $100M PPP Payments to Charter Schools Investigated  State Schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman and Arizona Deputy Auditor General Melanie Chesney are examining whether the $100M in Paycheck Protection Program payments to charter schools in Arizona violate …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Republicans Unveil New $1T Relief Package  Republicans in the U.S. Senate unveiled a roughly $1T stimulus package, titled the HEALS Act, geared toward reopening the economy. Key provisions include stimulus checks to …

Economic News  Who Foots the Bill for COVID Building Changes  Incremental operating costs for office buildings could increase by at least $19.40/SF or 5.8 percent of average annual office rents at the beginning of 2020, according to …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Lawmakers Trying to Push Through New Relief  Democrats and Republicans remain divided on what a next potential federal stimulus package should look like, but lawmakers “are going to be in an all-out sprint” …

Economic News  No Crash Predicted for Metro Phoenix  The Phoenix area’s housing market is showing no signs of crashing despite job losses and other economic hits because of COVID-19. Contracts to buy Phoenix-area homes priced above $300K soared over the past …

Economic News  Hotel Outlook Worsens, Again  Despite some encouraging numbers a few weeks ago, the increasing spikes in COVID-19 numbers have once again created a downturn in the U.S. hotel industry, according to a recent report in National …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Navajo Nation Approves Initial Aid Expenditures  The Navajo Nation‘s leaders over the weekend approved the tribe’s first expenditures of more than $60M in federal COVID-19 aid, about two months after receiving most of the funds in May. The …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Scottsdale Allocates Relief Funds  On July 1st, Scottsdale City Council accepted $29,628,014 from the AZCares Fund as part of the federal CARES Act. Uses range from utility assistance for residents to providing retrofitting to city businesses that house …

Source: Rio Nuevo  Facing a substantial reduction in next year’s revenue due to COVID-19, the Rio Nuevo Board approved a break-even budget reflecting an estimated $6M reduction in annual state tax revenue. The District has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 related business closures and the subsequent economic slowdown.   …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Virus Surge May Force More Business Relief  Because more than $130B remains in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program, Congress has approved a six-week extension for applications. There is speculation that, due to a …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  State Budget Expecting $700M Hit  Arizona’s economy has performed better than anticipated since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, but the state is still projected to see a $700M shortfall, according to the legislature’s top budget …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Surprise Gets $16M in CARES Cash   The City of Surprise recently received more than $16M via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to help offset tax losses and other budget impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. …

Source: Maricopa County  Maricopa County is putting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds to immediate use helping people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic while also pulling back on discretionary spending unrelated to the crisis. The Board …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Beyond PPP: Help for Contractors  A recent article in ConstructionDive takes a look at federal loans, tax credit and other assistance programs beyond the Paycheck Protection Program that can be of help to contractors trying …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Mesa Allowing Permit Extensions  Mesa is allowing developers and builders to extend construction and development permits as well as planning and zoning approvals because of the impacts of COVID-19. (Source: Rose Law Group …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Yuma Extends Permits for Builders  Yuma is extending the expiration date of most permits to help developers and those in the construction and real estate industries as they struggle with difficulties …

Budget, Policy & Stimulus News  Peoria to receive $20M in CARES Act funds  The City of Peoria is about to see some financial relief come its way to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The State of Arizona has received $441M in …

Budget News  Scottsdale CARES Act Allocation Estimated at $29M  More than $29M in CARES Act funds may soon be coming to Scottsdale. The municipality has a planned conversation on June 16th to discuss and provide direction for …

By Erin Brassey for The Glendale Star  Peoria Unified School District will ask voters to approve a 13 percent budget override and $125M bond in November.  The 13 percent override will continue to provide important funding …