/ Modified jan 27, 2016 9:32 a.m.

State Land Trust Payout to Schools Will Be Record $105M

12% increase from current year's payout, state treasurer reports to Investment Board.

Jeff DeWit treasurer 2014 Jeff DeWit, Arizona state treasurer.
Arizona public schools will get a record payout of $105 million from the State Land Trust Fund next fiscal year, the State Treasurer's Office announced Tuesday.

Treasurer Jeff DeWit told members of the State Board of Investment that based on the constitutional calculation, the fund should pay 12 percent more than in this fiscal year. He said in a press release that it is the third straight year of double-digit payout increases, and he praised his staff for making good investment decisions.

The fund was set up at statehood in 1912, with 10 million acres endowed by the federal government. The fund now totals about $5 billion, built on the proceeds of land sales and leases, with the investment earnings on the fund going primarily to public schools.

The state Constitution sets the payout at 2.5 percent annually, for now.

State voters in May will decide if they want to increase that to 6.9 percent for the next 10 years, which would increase the annual payout to an estimated $228 million for schools.

Gov. Doug Ducey initially pushed the plan and championed it through a special legislative session in October as a way of increasing school funding without raising taxes and to settle a 5-year-old lawsuit by schools against the Legislature for stopping inflation payments to schools. State courts, including the Supreme Court, ruled that was illegal.

DeWit opposes the plan to increase the payout, saying it will deplete the fund's principle and hurt school funding in the long run.

MORE: Arizona, News
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona