Some newly discovered emails could undermine the bid by state lawmakers to allocate $15.3 million for the Prescott Rodeo in a court filing that mentions Fountain Hills’ International Dark Sky Discovery Center, but does not appear to have any implication concerning the local facility that is currently under construction.
Documents filed in court by those challenging the rodeo funding appear to show that the state Treasurer’s Office agreed to provide another $10 million to the International Dark Sky Discovery Center in Fountain Hills even before it had requested proposals from others who might have qualified for the cash. Only later, after the money already was promised, did state officials follow what the law requires.
What makes that relevant is that the two allocations were part of the same 2023 legislation that entitled state lawmakers to earmark some of the state’s surplus to pet projects.
