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Citing high staff turnover, officials charged with improving the troubled state Veterans Home said Friday that they need $3.5 million in state money for capital improvements and salary increases.

The request came as a team set up by Gov. Janet Napolitano released a report based on a 30-day review of the home, located in Phoenix and serving elderly veterans statewide.

In February, investigators from the Arizona Department of Health Services found issues of abuse and neglect at the home, resulting in a $10,000 fine. But it wasn't until March that the findings of the Health Services report surfaced, prompting separate probes by Napolitano and a joint legislative committee.

In addition to management and policy recommendations, the governor's team is asking for a yearly general fund appropriation, something lawmakers said Friday they are interested in exploring.

"The home has been self- sufficient, but cannot maintain the quality of its programs and its physical plant given its current revenue stream," the report reads.

Currently, the home — which has a budget of around $13 million — doesn't receive any state funds, though it is run by the state.

"I could be open to it," said Rep. Jonathan Paton, a Tucson Republican. "But I want to make sure it's consistent with other states and see how it fits into the whole budget."

Sen. Jim Waring, a Phoenix Republican who sponsored a bill last year calling for a veterans home in Southern Arizona, also said he was open to the recommendations.

But with the legislative investigation still conducting hearings, Waring added: "Before spending millions in taxpayer money, we need to make sure we have all the facts."

Waring and Paton said they would expect the same funding for the planned Tucson facility.

That facility, planned on the campus of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, will cost nearly $30 million and relies on $10 million in state money.

"I'll be damned if Tucson gets treated differently than Phoenix at the end of the day," Paton said.

Democrats have been advocating for state money for the Veterans Home since the problems at the facility become known.

"It was obvious that the Veterans Home just didn't have the money to do its job," said Rep. Tom Prezelski, D-Tucson, in an interview Friday. "The same problems are going to emerge (at the Tucson home) unless we give them the money to do their job."

Gen. Greg Maxon, interim director of the Department of Veteran Services, said that with Vietnam veterans retiring and Iraq veterans returning with injuries, long-term planning is important for both the Phoenix and Tucson facilities.

Napolitano's review team was made up of Leonard Kirschner, former director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and Peter Francis, inspector general for the Arizona Department of Transportation.