The Arizona Board of Regents is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Arizona attorney general targeting state colleges’ real estate dealings.

In recent years, Arizona State University has made several lucrative deals with private developers. University-owned land is exempt from taxes.

The Attorney General argues this practice is robbing taxpayers of property revenue and giving some businesses an unfair advantage.

Attorneys for the Arizona Board of Regents filed four motions to dismiss the lawsuit claiming:

• The Attorney General lacks the authority to sue the Arizona Board of Regents.
• Administrative remedies have not been exhausted.
• The Attorney General’s suit constitutes an unlawful request to tax tax-exempt property.
• The suit raises “non-justiciable political questions” such as whether private projects are “sufficiently useful” to Arizona’s universities.

The Attorney General’s Office issued a statement via email.

“The Regents’ dismissal request of the lawsuit targeting their illegal property development agreement in Tempe was expected. We stand by our legal challenge and look forward to the universities having to explain why tax-dodging deals like the Omni agreement are not a clear violation of state law.”

The attorney general previously sued the Board over tuition. That lawsuit was rejected by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge.

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