Ariz. Narrows Property List For Budget Financing

PHOENIX (AP) — All or parts of four prison complexes are among a dozen state properties on a shortened list of facilities being proposed for sale-leaseback refinancing to help balance Arizona's state budget.

Thirty-two properties had been considered, but an outline released Tuesday by the Department of Administration listed only 12, including the Florence, Safford and Yuma prison complexes.

Other properties included the Department of Public Safety headquarters, two legislative buildings, the state mental hospital and the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. All of those properties are in Phoenix.

Under the proposed refinancing, the properties would "nominally" be sold but then leased back by the state. The state would raise $737 million and pay it back over the 20-year term of the deal.