Associated Press
PHOENIX — Arizona officials say they plan to offer securities to individuals and institutional investors to ease the state’s budget crisis by borrowing against prisons and other state properties.
The Department of Administration said Monday the state plans to raise the cash starting in January through certificates of participation sold through securities firms selected under the state procurement system.
The department says the state will “nominally” sell the properties under a bulk lease-purchase agreement that would have the state pay annual lease payments for up to 20 years.
Under the budget legislation signed into law by Gov. Brewer on Sept. 4, ownership of the properties would revert to the state at the end of the lease.