Phoenix will take on the state of Arizona in court over the legitimacy of a law signed earlier this year that killed the Roosevelt business improvement district.
The city is suing the state seeking to prevent House Bill 2440 from retroactively affecting the Roosevelt BID along with other compensation, according to court documents.
A statement released by Phoenix Spokeswoman Julie Watters said Phoenix requested the Arizona Superior Court find House Bill 2440, “unconstitutional and unenforceable special legislation.”
“The legislature passed a law after the fact that the city of Phoenix believes targets the Roosevelt business improvement district unconstitutionally,” Watters said.
The bill, authored by Rep. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, added new rules requiring a petition signed by the owners of more than half the taxable properties within the BID before the establishment of a business improvement district could be started, which the city of Phoenix did not achieve.
The law added new rules to the process for creating business improvement districts formed later than Jan. 1 of this year. The district’s boundaries were approved by City Council on Jan. 20, but budget plans and other specifics did not pass before the Jan. 1 deadline.
Gov. Doug Ducey signed the bill into law on Mar. 11, officially killing the Roosevelt BID. His office was not available for comment.
The city also alleges that another law designed to punish cities that break state laws is unconstitutional. SB 1487 states that any member of the state legislature can request the attorney general to investigate certain actions of any city. If the city is found to have broken a state law and does not fix the issue within 30 days, the attorney general would then request that the treasurer not give the city shared state funds.
The Roosevelt Business Improvement District was originally planned to help beautify and keep the area free of trash and provide residents with fast graffiti removal and event management to attract more developers and investors to the area.
The boundaries that were passed by City Council in November placed the BID between Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, and from Fillmore to Moreland streets.
The BID’s property assessment diagram, which showed how much each landowner would have to pay in property taxes for the BID, was discovered to be incomplete when it was presented to City Council during the Jan. 20 meeting. Phoenix offered a chance for landowners to protest the district through letters that would have to be sent to the city. If 50 percent of the land owners sent in protest letters the city would throw out the BID, but the 50 percent of protest letters required were not met in the time allotted.
Contact the reporter at kmlane5@asu.edu
