Grant v. Board of Regents of the Universities & State Colleges of Arizona

652 P.2d 1374, 133 Ariz. 527, 1982 Ariz. LEXIS 275
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 20, 1982
DocketNo. 15839
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 652 P.2d 1374 (Grant v. Board of Regents of the Universities & State Colleges of Arizona) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant v. Board of Regents of the Universities & State Colleges of Arizona, 652 P.2d 1374, 133 Ariz. 527, 1982 Ariz. LEXIS 275 (Ark. 1982).

Opinion

HAYS, Justice.

This is an action brought by appellants as taxpayers of Arizona to enjoin payment of money by the Arizona Board of Regents under a contract alleged to be illegal in violation of A.R.S. § 34-201. The appellants brought suit pursuant to A.R.S. § 35-213. The trial court granted summary judgment for the Board of Regents. We affirm the summary judgment in favor of the Board of Regents, although we reach this result for reasons different from those of the trial court.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-2101 and 17A A.R.S. Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure, rule 19(e).

The appellants seek to enjoin expenditures by the Board of Regents in connection with the installation of a new sound system at Grady Gammage Auditorium on the theory that such expenditures violate the Arizona force account law. Section 34-201(C) requires that construction and alteration of any public building, exceeding five thousand dollars in total cost, be advertised for bids by private contractors rather than done by the state’s own employees. It is uncon-troverted that the labor for the installation of the sound system was done by employees of Arizona State University and that the cost of the project exceeded five thousand dollars.

In accordance with the statutory requirement of A.R.S. § 35-213, the appellants requested the attorney general of the state of Arizona to enjoin the expenditure of funds on this project. The attorney general declined appellants’ request and appellants subsequently filed this suit.

Evidence at the preliminary injunction hearing established that the money spent on the sound system originated from either of two “local” sources, the Gammage Auditorium Account which is funded from student registration and tuition fees and ticket sales, and the Facilities Development Account, also funded from student fees. The fees retained in these “local” accounts are not reported to the state legislature.

The trial court held that an action will not lie under A.R.S. § 35 — 213 to recover allegedly illegal expenditures from funds to which the plaintiffs have not contributed. The court apparently considered Smith v. Graham County Community College Dist., 123 Ariz. 431, 600 P.2d 44 (App.1979), to be dispositive.

In Smith, the plaintiffs, the Associated General Contractors of America, sought to enjoin the Community College District from making alterations of the roof of a campus building without having the work done by a licensed contractor. The plaintiffs contended that the college district had failed to comply with the Arizona force account law. The Court of Appeals held that because the plaintiffs were not taxpayers in the community college district they did not have standing to bring the action. “Because the theory allowing the taxpayer to maintain a suit is based upon his equitable ownership of the fund and his liability to replenish the public treasury for an insufficiency caused by misappropriation, we believe that the connection of the Associated General Contractors of America with the community college district is too remote.” 600 P.2d at 46.

[529]*529Appellants urge us not to read into A.R.S. § 35-213 this common-law taxpayer standing requirement for maintaining a suit to challenge expenditures from state funds. We find that Smith is distinguishable and not controlling because that action was not brought under A.R.S. § 35-213. The common-law requirement that the plaintiff contribute to the fund which he challenges is expressly dispensed with by the language of A.R.S. §§ 35-212 — 213.

Arizona Revised Statutes, § 35-212,

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Bluebook (online)
652 P.2d 1374, 133 Ariz. 527, 1982 Ariz. LEXIS 275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-board-of-regents-of-the-universities-state-colleges-of-arizona-ariz-1982.