MOHAVE COUNTY—The Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted today to proceed with hiring legal counsel to move forward with litigation regarding the illegal taking of $1.4 million from Mohave County taxpayers. Also to be included in the lawsuit is the failure of the State to have a balanced budget. The State’s budget has not been balanced since 2006.

A recently released analysis has tagged Arizona as having one of the lowest credit ratings in the country. That would seem to be the result of a variety of poor fiscal policies, not the least of which would be the state not adhering to the constitutional (Article 9, Sections 4 and 5) requirement for a balanced budget.

Mohave County believes that the State has no authority to require mandatory contributions of our taxpayers’ property taxes. The State has shifted millions of dollars from the cities and counties to try to cover their inability to pay their bills. They have used roll-overs, the rainy-day fund and the mortgaging of their assets and still can’t balance the books. They have incurred long term debt, which eats up a good portion of their revenues. They owe our schools over a billion dollars.

Their taking from counties and cities is pushing the limits of local governments to furnish basic necessities.