Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller has placed an item on today’s addendum agenda for the Board to vote on regarding whether or not to release a new opinion issued by the County Attorney related to the donation of taxpayer funds by the supervisors to private charities.
The Board of Supervisors meeting today begins at 9 a.m. on the 1st floor of the Pima County Building located at 130 W. Congress in downtown Tucson.
Miller told constituents in a newsletter this week, “I have placed an item on the addendum agenda for the Board to vote on whether to release the County Attorney’s opinion to the public in regards to their using their office budget funds to donate to various charities and outside organizations. Unfortunately, they did not choose to end this practice when I made the motion to implement a policy change at the September 16th meeting.”
Late last week, the Goldwater Institute sent a letter to the supervisors advising them that the practice appears to be unconstitutional. Goldwater advised the supervisors that they should end the practice or risk facing legal action. Miller wrote this week, “It is unfortunate that no other Supervisor on the Board chose to end this practice when I put it to vote and that they may cost taxpayers more money if Pima County is faced with a lawsuit for not following the law per the Arizona Constitution.”
Many residents were surprised by Miller’s discovery that the supervisors have donated their tax dollars to charities of the supervisors’ choice, over the years. In some instances, those expenditures were made to charitable and non-profit organizations that contributed to the supervisors’ re-election campaigns.
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