In a Tax Court ruling issued in May 2014 in the Maricopa County Superior Court, the Judge Dean M. Fink affirmed Mohave County’s position that HB 2178 was unconstitutional. The House Bill was approved and signed into law during the 2012 legislative session and required Mohave County to refund or forgive taxes paid for properties located in a triangular-shaped area of land east of the Colorado River, on or near the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation.
Working in conjunction with State Senator Kelli Ward, a legal opinion was requested from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to assess the constitutionality of this bill. Via Opinion No. I13-004, the Attorney General’s Office found HB 2178 to be an “unconstitutional special law and thus invalid because it arbitrarily confers tax benefits on a handful of landowners while depriving similar benefits to past, present and future landowners thrust into identical circumstances.”
Not only did the recent ruling coincide with the Attorney General’s Opinion that found the bill to be unconstitutional but provides for the County to “file any Application and Affidavit for Attorney’s Fees and Statement of Taxable Costs.”
According to Hildy Angius, Chairman, and proponent of seeking an AG’s opinion prior to making reimbursements totaling approximately $455,000, “This decision is a huge win for Mohave County and our taxpayers.”