Jeff DeWit, Arizona state treasurer.
Treasurer Jeff DeWit told members of the State Board of Investment that based on the constitutional calculation, the fund should pay 12 percent more than in this fiscal year. He said in a press release that it is the third straight year of double-digit payout increases, and he praised his staff for making good investment decisions.
The fund was set up at statehood in 1912, with 10 million acres endowed by the federal government. The fund now totals about $5 billion, built on the proceeds of land sales and leases, with the investment earnings on the fund going primarily to public schools.
The state Constitution sets the payout at 2.5 percent annually, for now.
State voters in May will decide if they want to increase that to 6.9 percent for the next 10 years, which would increase the annual payout to an estimated $228 million for schools.
Gov. Doug Ducey initially pushed the plan and championed it through a special legislative session in October as a way of increasing school funding without raising taxes and to settle a 5-year-old lawsuit by schools against the Legislature for stopping inflation payments to schools. State courts, including the Supreme Court, ruled that was illegal.
DeWit opposes the plan to increase the payout, saying it will deplete the fund's principle and hurt school funding in the long run.
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