state land exchanges; school
land
SCR 1004 proposes an amendment to the state constitution that, if approved by Arizona voters, would allow the State Land Department to exchange state trust land for other public lands provided that necessary conditions are met.
In 1910, the United States Congress passed the Arizona-New Mexico Enabling Act, which allowed Arizona to become a state and granted Arizona land to be held in trust to produce revenue for various public institutions. The Arizona State Land Department was established in 1915 to manage state lands and resources to optimize economic return for the trust beneficiaries.
Any modification to the Enabling Act requires action by the United States Congress. Through the years, Congress has amended the Enabling Act to allow Arizona more flexibility in managing and disposing of trust land. In the 1930’s, two acts of Congress authorized the state to exchange trust land for other public or private lands. Although the state constitution was not amended to incorporate that authority for land exchanges, the state did enact statutes to provide for exchanges of trust land. Since then, the Department has exchanged land with the federal government and private landowners acting under statutory authorization.
In March 1990, the State Supreme Court held that without an amendment to the state constitution, the Legislature had no power to authorize public land exchanges by statute. Since that decision, the Department has stopped land exchanges. Measures to amend the constitution to allow the Department to resume land exchanges were placed on the ballot in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 2000 but were defeated by Arizona voters.
· Proposes an amendment to the state constitution to allow state lands to be exchanged for other public lands if the exchange is in the best interest of the state land trust and the purpose is to conserve the trust land to be exchanged as open space.
· States the value of any land received in the exchange must equal or exceed the value of the state land that is exchanged. Requires at least two independent appraisals.
· Requires an analysis that shows the income to the trust will not decrease as a result of the exchange. The analysis must also indicate the fiscal impact to affected counties, cities, towns and school districts.
· Requires public notice be given at least five weeks prior to public hearings. The notice must include the location and the appraised value of the land under consideration and the time and place of the hearing. The hearings must be conducted at the state capitol and in the vicinity of the land to be exchanged.
· Provides that land exchanges are not considered to be sales.
· Requires the Secretary of State to place this proposition on the next general election ballot.
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45th Legislature
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First Regular Session 2 April
3, 2001
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