PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court appears to doubt whether hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes collected under a voter initiative enacted in November can be legally spent when a provision of the state constitution caps school spending.
The justices raised the questions during a hearing Tuesday on an expedited constitutional challenge to the new tax on high-earning Arizonans designed to boost school funding.
Opponents of Proposition 208 say the spending cap means $600 million of the $830 million collected can't be spent. Backers say there are ways to spend that cash. The justices will issue a ruling later.