Transportation excise tax money is statutorily restricted to street and highway purposes or transportation projects. Gila County demonstrated that it spent excise tax monies during calendar years 2009 through 2013 to address traffic safety and congestion issues and deteriorating road conditions. Also, in January 2014, the County completed the Gila County Transportation Study, which identified the most critical future transportation infrastructure needs and recommended projects to address those needs. We also determined that the County spent its excise tax monies solely for street and highway purposes or transportation projects as required by Arizona Revised Statutes §28-6392(B), and implemented all but one of our prior audit recommendations.

Flooding and erosion within the Ranch Estates subdivision during the 2007 summer monsoon season raised the concerns of homeowners. This study addresses the impact of recent improvements in the drainage area upstream; provides updated flood-hazard mapping for the area, and identifies mitigation measures that could be implemented by the affected homeowners to address their flood/erosion hazards.

The list was compiled by the Department of Water Resources in cooperation with the Landscape Technical committee of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, comprised of experts from the Desert Botanical Garden, the Arizona Department of Transportation and various municipal, nursery and landscape specialists. Individuals wishing to add or delete plants from the list may submit information to the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources for consideration.

Arizona’s vulnerable populations are struggling on a daily basis but usually do so in silence, undetected by traditional radar and rankings, often unaware themselves of their high risk for being pushed or pulled into full crisis. Ineligible for financial assistance under strict eligibility guidelines, they don’t qualify as poor because vulnerable populations are not yet in full crisis. To be clear, this report is not about the “poor,” at least not in the limited sense of the word. It is about our underemployed wage earners, our single-parent households, our deployed or returning military members, our under-educated and unskilled workforce, our debt-ridden neighbors, our uninsured friends, our family members with no savings for an emergency, much less retirement.

Arizona's recently adopted budget for fiscal year 2015-16 includes dramatic reductions in assistance to low-income families with children. On July 1, Arizona will become the first and only state to limit lifetime eligibility requirements for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to 12 months (federal law allows for eligibility time limits of 60 months). That means come June 30, 2016, many Arizona families no longer will receive TANF benefits even if they otherwise would be eligible under federal guidelines.

More than one in 10 Arizona public high school students have disabilities. One-third of these youth remain unengaged in work or education following graduation, creating a significant public policy challenge for the state. Why is this so? This report shares findings from 2014 surveys and focus groups conducted with youth and families as well as interviews with education leaders across the state. These responses highlight how Arizona schools and families are preparing these youth, and what the state still needs to do to ensure youth with disabilities have a role to play in Arizona’s job market.