At least 10 Arizona organizations that receive tax-credit donations for private school scholarships have failed so far to spend at least 90 percent of their revenues on the scholarships as required by law, according to an analysis by the Arizona Republic.
The newspaper found that the percentages of money given for scholarships by the 10 school tuition organizations range from 31 percent to 89 percent. In 2008, the total amount unspent by the organizations was $1.5 million, excluding the maximum 10 percent allowed for overhead.
The total shortfall has topped $1 million annually since 2002, with up to 12 organizations each year accounting for the figure.
State officials have taken no action to force any of the school tuition organizations, which are nonprofit groups that collect and distribute the private tax-credit donations, to meet the 90 percent requirement. That’s partly because the tax-credit law doesn’t specify how long organizations have to spend 90 percent of their money.
