The $15.3M Arizona budget allocation to improve and expand the Prescott Rodeo Grounds has been temporarily halted pending the outcome of a lawsuit.
Howard Mechanic and former Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Ralph Hess—aided by legal advocacy group Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest—filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court alleging the funding violates state law and that the plaintiffs, as taxpayers, would suffer a financial loss due to “the burden for replenishing…wrongful and illegal expenditures.”
The lawsuit claims the payment violates the “Gift Clause” of the Arizona constitution, which prohibits public entities from making payments that do not directly benefit taxpayers to individuals or private companies.
Lawyers representing State Treasurer Kimberly Yee and Attorney General Kris Mayes told the Court they would halt the spending until the lawsuit is resolved.
The complaint says the state did not meet two basic criteria, specifically that the payment must serve a public purpose and that the state must account for the gift’s direct benefits. It also says lawmakers must state the gift’s purpose in a separate bill, which the plaintiffs say did not happen.
State Rep. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, worked with Prescott Frontier Days, Inc.—the operator of the Rodeo Grounds—on the appropriation and said it was approved by legislative attorneys.
Spokespeople for both chambers of the Arizona Legislature said all budget expenditures are reviewed for possible gift clause violations.
If the appropriation for the Rodeo Grounds expansion is found to violate the gift clause and laws regulating appropriations, other projects around the state could also be jeopardized, including $5.6M for the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff and $10M for the International Dark Sky Discovery Center planetarium and exhibit project in Fountain Hills. (Source)