Pinal County Transportation Excise Tax—County and Most Cities and Towns Used Excise Tax Monies Appropriately and Were Able to Demonstrate Its Impact, but Two Towns Need Improvement

Transportation excise tax money is statutorily restricted to street and highway purposes or transportation projects. Pinal County (County) and most of its cities and towns spent excise tax monies appropriately during fiscal years 2011 through 2015; however, the Towns of Mammoth and Superior inappropriately loaned and used excise tax monies for other purposes. Both Towns should take steps to repay any inappropriately loaned or used excise tax monies and ensure excise tax monies are used only for street and highway purposes or transportation projects in the future. In addition, the County and most cities and towns were able to demonstrate the impact of their use of excise tax monies. However, the Towns of Mammoth and Superior should improve their planning processes to help identify and prioritize projects and develop and implement policies and procedures detailing appropriate recordkeeping to help them demonstrate the excise tax monies’ impact in addressing transportation issues.