Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa | Kingman Daily Miner
A law ordering Mohave County to refund more than $454,000 in property taxes to a group of individuals involved in a federal land dispute is unconstitutional, according to Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne.
However, the true fate of the law will have to be decided in court.
The Arizona Legislature passed House Bill 2178 in 2012. The bill ordered the county to refund 22 years of property taxes to 37 property owners near the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation who were involved in 1994 federal lawsuit.
The Mohave County Board of Supervisors and Arizona Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu, protested the law at the beginning of the year, saying that the bill violated the Arizona Constitution.
“I knew from the moment I saw it that it was unconstitutional. I don’t understand how it passed,” said District 2 Supervisor Hildy Angius.
