Arizona

Maricopa County supervisors last week raised the property tax rate for fiscal 2012, but officials said a drop in property values should keep most residential tax bills at or near current levels.

DALLAS - Amid rising sales tax revenue and an improving economy, Phoenix is considering a bond issue to revive plans for a $288 million extension of the metro area's new light-rail system.

A task force charged with determining Scottsdale’s capital needs met for the first time last week as the City Council moves towards a possible general obligation bond election in the fall of 2012.

DALLAS - Fitch Ratings has downgraded $12.6 million of certificates of participation issued in 2009 for Tucson's downtown Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District while affirming the city’s general obligation debt at AA-minus.

Arizona’s general fund collections rose 11.6% in fiscal 2011, ending an unprecedented three-year span of consecutive declines.

Proponents of a plan to limit increases in Arizona state and local property tax levies have filed paperwork with the secretary of state’s office for a third try at a statewide vote. Similar initiative attempts failed in 2008 and 2010.

DALLAS — Facing 22 more years of debt service on its Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, Ariz., is seeking a new strategy to keep the Phoenix Coyotes playing in the $180 million venue after a deal to sell the hockey team fell through.

DALLAS - The financial trouble surrounding Glendale, Ariz.'s $180 million bond-financed hockey arena appears to be worsening as the adjoining Westgate City Center retail and entertainment complex faces the threat of foreclosure.

DALLAS - Amid prolonged uncertainty and threats of a lawsuit, Glendale, Ariz., has called off plans to issue $100 million of certificates of participation to finance the sale of the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes to private investor Matthew Hulsizer.

Trustees of Maricopa County Community College District will consider a plan Tuesday night to raise property taxes to compensate for an 85% cut in state aid.

DALLAS — With Arizona's economy still struggling to recover from a deep recession, the Legislature meets Friday in special session to consider Gov. Jan Brewer’s call for extending jobless benefits to 14,697 workers who have been unemployed for at least 79 weeks.

The State Board of Accountancy has dropped its investigation into whether Surprise chief financial officer Scott McCarty unlawfully claimed he was a certified public accountant in Arizona.

Arizona’s general fund revenue collections in April totaled $827 million, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee reported last week, marking the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year growth in state revenue.

DALLAS — A temporary one-cent sales tax increase approved by Arizona voters in May 2010 has produced $100 million less than originally projected and failed to prevent $454 million in cuts to education and a $564 million rollback in health care spending, according to state reports.

DALLAS — Glendale, Ariz., has committed another $25 million to keep the National Hockey League’s Phoenix Coyotes playing in city-owned Jobing.com arena for another year, though officials have not yet identified where the money will come from.

DALLAS — The Maricopa County Community College District is surrounded by the economic troubles of the Phoenix metro area, but the 10-campus system will still carry top ratings into an upcoming $150 million issue of general obligation bonds.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the Maricopa County Stadium District two notches to BBB-minus from BBB-plus due to falling revenues pledged for outstanding bonds, analysts said last week. The outlook is negative.

DALLAS — Arizona Gov. Jan ­Brewer is considering an $8.3 billion budget that she negotiated with the Republican-controlled Legislature despite misgivings about some of the $1.1 billion in spending cuts.

DALLAS — A political fundraising scandal, including efforts to influence construction of the bond-financed University of Phoenix National Football League stadium, could cost Arizona’s Fiesta Bowl its nonprofit status and its ranking as one of the top four collegiate Bowl Championship Series games, according to an investigative report.

DALLAS — The Arizona budget bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday calls for $1.3 billion in cuts to avoid borrowing and sharply reduces funding for education.