The new bill amends title 9, chapter 4, article 8 of the Arizona Revised Statutes by adding section 9-500.50, which pertains to municipal contracts. The bill states that a contract between a municipality and a political subdivision or agency of Arizona will be considered void if it involves the development of infrastructure on state trust land outside municipal boundaries that will benefit private developers after the contract term. The nullification of such a contract must be justified by a significant and legitimate public purpose and must be appropriate for furthering that public purpose.

The act applies retroactively to contracts from and after June 30, 2004. It outlines that ensuring the highest and best use of state trust land for the benefit of trust beneficiaries, undoing failures of state or municipal conflict of interest laws, and addressing abuse of power or misuse of public funds for personal gain are all significant and legitimate public purposes. The adoption of this legislation and its retroactive effective date, which nullifies contracts that meet the criteria outlined in the new section, is deemed appropriate for furthering these public purposes.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 9-500.50