As merely a guiding document having little in the way of the force of law, Tuesday's rather pointed City Council debate over proposed revisions to Scottsdale's 1984 Downtown Plan is a tempest in a teapot. It was another opportunity for council members to square off on local cable television over whether real estate developers receive too many favors (they don't) and whether residents' views always should be supreme considerations in zoning decisions (they shouldn't).

The criminal charges leveled against Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley hinge almost exclusively on his failure to individually list a half-dozen properties he owns through a series of real estate investment companies, according to documents related to the 118-count indictment announced Tuesday.

The Mesa City Council could implement a property tax without the vote of the people, despite the city charter requiring an election.

The Arizona Senate will vote this week on an important bill, and the measure has virtually nothing to do with illegal immigration or the state budget fiasco. Senate Bill 1162 is about something more fundamental — your rights to own private property, and your rights to “freely contract.”

The sweet deal Scottsdale homeowners are getting this coming year on the city’s lowest property tax rate in decades won’t mean much come 2008.

The sweet deal Scottsdale homeowners are getting this coming year on the city’s lowest property tax rate in decades won’t mean much come 2008.

On May 16, Mesa voters will decide whether to endorse two tax measures that will have a long-lasting financial impact on both the city and its taxpayers:

On May 16, Mesa voters will decide whether to endorse two tax measures that will have a long-lasting financial impact on both the city and its taxpayers:

Massive growth in the East Valley has spurred a sprawl of new subdivisions on county land — some of which, residents and officials say, are not being responsibly developed.

Arlin Troutt does not fit society’s definition of a model citizen. Troutt is by his own account an aging hippie; he once ran a business making shoes out of hemp and was a conscientious objector who dodged the Vietnam War draft.

Bill Richardson

Times may be hard for real estate agents.

Hard times in the housing market have put real estate-related firms into survival mode, but many are still expanding their staffs and finding ways to take advantage of new niches.

The proposed relaxation of Chandler sign laws to help local businesses during the ongoing economic downturn will be a topic of discussion at Wednesday's Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.

MIAMI - Elona Kaplan moved to Florida 2 1/2 years ago after going through a divorce. She bought a $178,000 bayfront condo in Sunny Isles Beach, just north of here, where she hoped to start a new life.

Scott Bales might be teaching university students today if his graduate school professors at Harvard had made the courses more relevant to real life.

Cities that change rules about how property can be used can be forced to compensate the owners, the Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled.

PHOENIX (AP) — Maricopa County supervisors have voted to keep the current property tax rate, but less money will be coming into county coffers due to declining property values.

A business group and two veteran legislators are crafting a plan that could eventually give businesses a big break in their property taxes.

Tacked up in an impeccably furnished boardroom with a conference table the size of the expanse of land outside is a vision for the future Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

A temporary relaxation of Chandler's sign laws, meant to help local businesses during the ongoing economic downturn, received final City Council approval Monday.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio violated the same laws that indicted County Supervisor Don Stapley did, a Stapley defense motion filed Wednesday alleges.

State senators are preparing to give final approval this week to new laws designed to imprison bankers, loan officers and even home buyers who engage in mortgage fraud.

State legislators moved on two fronts Tuesday to bar politicians and the agency chiefs they appoint from blocking law enforcement officers from enforcing immigration laws.