Auditor blasts Arizona Land Department over leases to Saudi-owned farm with low rent, no water rules
Arizona’s Auditor General has released a scathing report, criticizing the State Land Department for leasing land to a Saudi-owned company in western Arizona at cheap rates. The company, Fondomonte, used the land — and the groundwater beneath it — to grow alfalfa for dairy cattle in the Middle East. State Auditor General Lindsey Perry says the Land Department’s practices for valuing the land it leases don’t align with what’s recommended. In addition, state law requires the department to conduct a mass appraisal of its properties at least once every 10 years to determine its agricultural rental rates. But the last one was done in 2005. This resulted in $3.4 million less in revenues going into the land trust that provides revenues for K-12 education and other beneficiaries.
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