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Supervisors challenge 30-year state trust land solar leases as revenue loss for local governments
Summary
Cochise supervisors criticized the State Land Department’s practice of issuing long-term (30-year) solar leases on state trust land, arguing leases instead of sales greatly reduce long-term returns to the education trust and deny counties property-tax revenue and local benefits.
Members of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors used the CSA briefing to press concerns about large-scale solar projects on state trust land, saying long-term leases undercut local revenue and the trust’s returns.
Chair (speaker 1) said the state land director’s use of 30-year leases for large solar arrays effectively removes potential sale proceeds that would otherwise be invested in the trust and return far more to beneficiaries. "If you do a 30-year lease...that comes out to roughly $127,000 a year...the time value of money over 30 years results in, like, $58,000 of actual value 30 years from now," the Chair said, urging that state trust land be sold rather than leased for permanent improvements.
The Chair argued that permanent improvements on trust land—panels and supporting infrastructure—should be treated as purchases because county assessors consider improvements of more than five years to be permanent. He warned that counties and local taxing districts lose property-tax revenue and that the education trust itself may forfeit greater long-term returns when land is leased rather than sold.
Board members asked staff and CSA to follow up on legal authority for 30-year leases and on possible changes to state practice to preserve local revenue and trust returns.
