Posted Mar 12, 2019, 4:31 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2013
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Arizona Regents ask court to dismiss AG's real estate lawsuit
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Originally Posted by muertecaza
Apparently undeterred by the AG's lawsuit, the Tempe Joint Review Committee approved the Development Plan Review for the Omni hotel at University/Mill.
https://www.tempe.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=72348
The packet also has massings of the planned ASU parking garage south of 9th St. Not sure if they are meant to be totally accurate or not, but they show the garage taking up essentially the entire space between 9th St., Mill, 10th St. and Myrtle.
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https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/...-ags-real.html
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The Arizona Board of Regents has filed four motions in Arizona Tax Court to dismiss a lawsuit by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich targeting Arizona State University's practice of allowing developers to build on the university's tax-exempt land.
The motions cite the attorney general’s lack of authority to sue the board, failure to exhaust administrative remedies, unlawful requests that tax-exempt state property be taxed and non-justiciable political questions, according to a statement released by the board Monday afternoon.
“For decades, the Arizona courts have made clear the Attorney General does not have statutory authority and free purview to file suit against whomever he wants,” said ABOR Chairman Ron Shoopman in a statement. “Yet, once again, we are called to respond to a senseless lawsuit perpetuating false narratives. This lawsuit wastes time and resources at the board and universities, and detracts us from the crucial work we do to serve the students and families of Arizona.”
In the lawsuit, filed in January, Brnovich said the Omni Tempe hotel and conference center, which was approved by ABOR to be built on land owned by the board, must be subject to taxes.
The project, planned on 2.25 acres near Mill Avenue and University Drive, was approved by ABOR in 2016 and by the city of Tempe in 2018.
The development agreement includes an option for Omni Hotels Management Corp. to lease the land from ASU, while ASU would serve as landlord of the commercial development for a 60-year period.
Katie Conner, a spokeswoman for the AG's office, issued a statement late Monday night criticizing the move by the regents.
"No one should be surprised by ABOR’s predictable request to dismiss the lawsuit challenging their illegal property development agreement," Conner said in the statement. "It appears ABOR would rather have a court toss out the lawsuit on technicalities than have an open and honest discussion about how they are allowing private companies to dodge paying their fair share of taxes. We are confident in the merits of our lawsuit and are committed to sticking up for Arizona taxpayers."
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