The Arizona Department of Transportation was authorized in 1996 to administer a State Infrastructure Bank under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. The Highway Expansion and Extension Loan Program (HELP) was established. The financial statements present only the funds comprising the Fund and are not intended to present fairly the financial position or results of operations of the Department.

The HELP program is meant to be a funding tool to accelerate needed highway projects throughout the state. Board Funding Obligations are an important part of the HELP capitalization and the current stress on the State's General Fund has impacted our ability to use BFOs as a funding source for new loans. Though $140 million of BFOs are authorized by statute to capitalize the HELP, the State Treasurer was required to call all outstanding BFOs in April 2009. Consequently, the State Transportation Board and the Department have suspended the HELP program given the uncertainty of a long term funding source.

The Arizona Department of Transportation, the Arizona Game & Fish Department and the Arizona State Parks Board are required to conduct a study every three years on watercraft fuel consumption and recreational watercraft usage. The fuel consumption data is collected to determine the allocation of motor vehicle fuel tax to the State Lake Improvement Fund. The information on recreational watercraft usage patterns on Arizona’s lakes and rivers is necessary, in part, to determine the distribution of SLIF funds to applicants.

The Chandler Airpark area encompasses nine square miles surrounding the Chandler Municipal Airport. The area plan provides the City of Chandler with a document that will strategically guide future development in and around the existing airport. The two major goals of this plan are the protection of the Municipal Airport from residential encroachment and the aggressive economic development of the Airpark area.

The City of Chandler developed the South Arizona Avenue Entry Corridor Study in 2006, setting forth a vision for the development of the corridor between Dr. A.J. Chandler Park and the new SanTan Freeway, ¾ mile to the south. Between downtown and the freeway is the corridor that the City intends to see redeveloped, with mixed residential and commercial uses to create a dynamic new “front door” for Chandler. The purpose of these design guidelines is to guide zoning requests within the South Arizona Avenue Corridor to achieve the objectives of the Chandler General Plan. The overall goal of these objectives is to implement the vision for South Arizona Avenue. The guidelines address the major design aspects of new office, retail and residential buildings in the corridor. Design Guidelines are not building or streetscape designs; they provide design direction so that each project’s architectural design will reinforce the City’s strategic intentions as this important area of the city responds to its new role as Chandler’s “front door.” These guidelines also identify streetscape design principles for South Arizona Avenue with the objective of coordinating public and private design in the Corridor.