A lawsuit from a Payson resident and the Goldwater Institute is accusing the Town Council of bypassing voters by approving $70 million in bonds in a public meeting last month.
The complaint accuses the council of approving the bonds through an “emergency clause,” rather than putting the bonds up to a vote from Payson residents.
Goldwater Institute said that the council used the clause as a legal loophole, and that approving the measure without a referendum violates the Arizona Constitution.
“If you’re going to make a decision that’s going to affect people in such a large way; that’s tens of millions of dollars, then you have to go to the people. That’s the way it works, and that’s not what they’re doing here," said Joe Setyon with the institute.
Goldwater said that the approval came from council members speculating that interest rates on bonds would increase, so the council needed to acquire the bonds now. Goldwater also said that the bonds will put Payson taxpayers in debt for 25 years.
KJZZ News reached out to the town of Payson, but was told no one was available to comment.
