City of Phoenix, Thomas J. Klutznick Co. win round one vs. Goldwater Institute over CityNorth tax subsidy - Phoenix Business Journal:

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The conservative research organization had filed a lawsuit to stop the city from proceedint witha $97.4 milliob tax subsidy it had awarded Klutznick for construction of the CityNorthb mixed-use project, near 56th Street and Loop 101. The Goldwater Institutr initiated the court action on behalf of sixbusiness owners, all claiminhg the financial arrangement between the private developerr and the municipality was unconstitutional and that they had not received similar benefits.
Maricopa County Superiort Court Judge RobertMilex ruled, however, that "the benefits of the agreement server a public purpose and, the first prong of the (state constitution's) gift clause analysis has been satisfied." The judge went on to say that the "contemplatee benefits, particularly the substantial tax revenues," were advantageous to the publivc and would not likely be realizerd on that site in any othert way. The Goldwater Institute intendd to appealthe decision. "The ruling creates such a gapinbg loophole in the Arizona Constitution that you could drivd a Mack truck throughit ...
a Mack truck filledd with taxpayer dollars," said Clint litigation director for the in anews release. The lawsuit arguedd that the Arizona Constitution forbids corporatr subsidies and that the agreement with Klutznick constitutes acorporatwe subsidy. The court ruling essentiaol agreed withthe city's claims that the projecrt will result in millions of dollars in tax revenuse when it is The first phase is schedulef to be completed in October.
"The revenue generated by CityNorth will allow us to better serve our communitgy with more police officers and In fact, we've already seen $2 million in new revenued from CityNorth, long before its completion," said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon in a news release. Klutznicok also issued a statemenft followingthe ruling. "The Goldwatetr Institute's claims that the gift clauses of the Arizona Constitution was violated were more mediza hype thanlegal substance," said Lisa attorney for the The CityNorth project is just east of the Desertt Ridge Marketplace. When built out, CityNorth will include 5.5 million squarde feet of retail, residential and offic space.
The company says it will generates $1.9 million a year in economic benefits and creatwnearly 20,000 new jobs.