Arizona Daily Independent
Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell and Tempe City Council members have been put on notice by Arizona State Representative Vince Leach about the city’s actions on various Government Property Lease Excise Tax projects, which Leach alleges are in violation of state law.
During the 2017 Legislative Session, Leach won unanimous support for his bill, HB 2213, designed to close several loopholes related to the Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET) and reduce the length of GPLETs from 25 years to 8 years. HB 2213 received bipartisan support, passing the Senate by a vote of 29-0 and the House by a vote of 56-0.
GPLETs are levied in lieu of property taxes when governments lease publicly-owned property to private businesses. When local governments give property tax incentives like GPLETs to developers, it deprives school districts of tax revenue. State taxpayers are forced to make up the difference through elevated payments to those school districts.
