Governor Jan Brewer signed Proud’s legislation, HB2408, which calls for a special “forensic audit” of Pima County bond efforts. The legislation directs the Auditor General to complete a special audit of the 1997, 2004, and 2006 Pima County general obligation bond programs.
Pima County residents have questioned the process the County uses to decide which communities will be recipients of County bond monies. They argue that the County rewards and punishes communities through the bond funding process depending on their cooperation with the agendas of the County Manager and the members of the Board of Supervisors.
Representative Proud stated she asked for the audit in lieu of her bill that would have created a Regional Bond Accountability Committee. “There were some valid concerns so I asked for an audit instead. The audit makes more sense to what is happening with the Pima County bonds. Pima County has over a billion dollars in bonds with little to show for it,” Proud stated.
The Auditor General’s Office is tasked to compare projects which were authorized by the county’s bond advisory committee and where the money ultimately went. They are tasked to analyze the explanation made by the Board of Supervisors for each change in use of funds and delivery times, “including in each instance whether there is any reason to believe or conclude that Pima County changed the amounts or uses of funds or the timing of projects to reward or to punish an entity, party or official who stood to benefit from or be affected by the project.”
County residents pay the second highest tax rate in the state, with substandard governmental services compared to other counties in the state. Despite this, Pima County residents Manager Chuck Huckleberry claims that Marana taxpayers are retaliating against the County.
“When you hear the taxpayers complain about how bad the streets are and then find out that 40 million dollars went missing from the voter approved HERF bond then blame the legislature because the streets are not completed, that tells me something is very wrong,” Proud stated. “An audit would bring to light any wrong doing versus a regional bond accountability committee”.
Many residents in Proud’s district felt that they have been affected by unfair bond distribution practices.