Title 14, Local Government

(a) (1) A mobile home or manufactured home of any width or description permanently affixed to a foundation on property which is owned by the owner of the mobile home or manufactured home shall be deemed real property for the purposes of the creation of special improvement distric…

(a) As used in this section, “district” means any levee, drainage, irrigation, watershed, or river improvement district in Arkansas, including without limitation those districts:(1) Formed or operating under this chapter, § 14-87-101 et seq., § 14-88-101 et seq., § 14-89-101 et s…

(a) (1) (A) Ten percent (10%) or more of the property owners in an improvement district may present to the county judge of the county or to the mayor of the municipality in which the improvement district lies a petition and an affidavit:(i) Concerning the financial affairs of the…

(a) The county judge of the county or the mayor of the municipality in which an improvement district lies shall appoint an administrator of the improvement district to act as the board of commissioners if all positions on a board of commissioners of the improvement district are v…

As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires, “real property” means all property assessed for the improvement within the district including lands, town lots, railroads, tramroads, bridges, and any other real property.

The provisions of this subchapter do not apply to the counties of Hot Spring, Boone, Lawrence, Faulkner, White, Sevier, and Stone.

(a) All taxes or assessments levied on the real property in any road improvement, drainage, levee, or fencing district in this state, to which this subchapter applies, if not paid on or before October 1 of the year in which it is due, as required by law, shall be delinquent. The …

(a) The county tax collector shall record the list in a well-bound book kept by him for that purpose preceding the list by a caption, which may be in substance as follows: “The lands, town lots, railroads, tramroads, and bridges returned delinquent in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …

(a) Anyone desiring to redeem any of the delinquent lands, town lots, railroads, tramroads, bridges, or other real property included in the list shall apply to the county tax collector. (b) Upon the payment of the tax, penalty, interest, and costs, the collector shall issue a red…

(a) (1) When the board of improvement or anyone authorized by law to file suit for the collection of delinquent taxes desires to commence a suit, they shall obtain a certified copy of the list from the county tax collector, which shall be filed with the complaint and taken as a p…

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Real property” means all property assessed for the improvement within the district including lands, town lots, railroads, tramroads, bridges, and any and all other real property embraced in the district;(2…

(a) (1) The provisions of this subchapter shall apply only to those counties which have a population as shown by the last federal census in excess of seventy-five thousand (75,000) inhabitants.(2) (A) The tax collecting officer of every improvement district as set out in this sub…

(a) (1) Any collector of taxes as designated in § 14-86-1205 who fails or refuses to make, certify, and file with the county tax collector the delinquent lists named in this section, within the time provided in this subchapter, is guilty of a violation and upon conviction shall b…

In case of any district, as set out in § 14-86-1205 where no time is fixed at which the taxes therein become delinquent, if not paid, they shall become delinquent at the expiration of ninety (90) days from the date they become due and payable.

(a) (1) All taxes or assessments not delinquent but levied on the real property of this state in any road improvement district, fencing district, levee district, bridge district, drainage district, sewer district, street improvement district, sidewalk district, water district, li…

(a) Upon the filing of any list as provided in § 14-86-1205, the county tax collector shall immediately add to the list the penalty and cost chargeable on each separate tract or parcel of ground, extending opposite thereof the total tax penalty and cost. (b) (1) At the foot of th…

(a) Anyone desiring to redeem any of the delinquent lands, town lots, railroads, tramroads, bridges, or other property included in the list shall apply to the county tax collector. (b) Upon the payment of the tax penalty and cost, the collector shall issue a redemption certificat…

(a) (1) When the board of improvement or anyone authorized by law to file suit for the collection of these delinquent taxes desires to commence a suit, they shall obtain a certified copy of the remaining delinquent property on the list from the county tax collector, which shall b…

This subchapter shall only apply to counties having a population in excess of one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) inhabitants, according to the most recent federal census.

The provisions of this subchapter shall not be construed to affect any other costs which may have been or may be assessed by the chancery court in an action filed therein for the collection of delinquent improvement district assessments.

(a) Any person, firm, or corporation having an interest in any property which has been certified by the county tax collector's office prior to the enactment of this section for delinquent assessments in any improvement district and which property has not been sold for the delinqu…

The fee of the chancery clerk for filing and recording the delinquent lists of assessments of any improvement district certified to the chancery clerk's office by any person, board, or officer is abolished.

The purpose of this subchapter is to ensure that owners of land receive notice of the filing of suit to sell lands for nonpayment of improvement district assessments, in those instances in which the law requires the filing of such a suit, and notice of the sale of lands for nonpa…

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to modify or limit the rights of landowners to redeem lands sold for nonpayment of improvement district assessments as previously provided by law.

(1) At least twenty (20) days prior to selling or filing suit to sell any lands for nonpayment of improvement district assessments, the person charged with making the sale or filing the suit shall mail, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner of the lands at his…

The costs of giving notice to owners shall be charged to the delinquent lands and collected either from the owners when the lands are redeemed or from the purchaser when the lands are sold.

(a) If the lands are not redeemed within twenty (20) days after the notice is mailed, the person charged with making the sale or filing the suit may sell the lands or file suit to sell the lands. (b) If the notice is mailed to the owner prior to filing suit to sell the lands, it …

(a) In all sales made by commissioners under decrees of chancery courts for foreclosure of delinquent special assessments in drainage, levee, and bridge districts, improvement districts in cities and towns, and in all special assessment districts of every kind, the court may appr…

All persons shall have the right to redeem from the sale for taxes of road, drainage, levee, or other improvement districts at any time within two (2) years from the date when the lands are sold by the commissioner making the sale, and not thereafter.

Where any lands have been forfeited or sold to the state for the nonpayment of general taxes and any of the lands may be located in any improvement district of any kind or class, the district may, nevertheless, proceed as provided by law to enforce its lien for delinquent taxes o…

(a) Where any lands have been foreclosed on by any improvement district for delinquent taxes or assessments due it and the title to any of the lands may have been or is in the state, the purchaser at any sale for the improvement district taxes shall have the right to redeem the l…

Upon the expiration of the period allowed for redemption from foreclosure sales, the purchaser shall have the right to the possession of the lands without accountability for rents or damages until the state exercises its paramount authority.

All improvement districts in this state are directed to make refunds of amounts received by a district for the purchase of lands acquired by it by foreclosure of the district's lien for taxes, or assessments levied by it upon lands located therein, when the title shall fail and t…

No refund shall be made under this subchapter except the amount in excess of the sum legally due the district at the time of the purchase.

Any claimant for refund of purchase money shall be chargeable with the value of any timber, minerals, or other thing of value sold or removed from the land by the purchaser.

An officer or commissioner of an improvement district of this state who fails, refuses, or neglects to comply with this subchapter is guilty of a violation and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars…

(a) (1) All commissioners, treasurers, and other officers of all road, drainage, levee, bridge, street, sewer, paving, and all other improvement districts of this state, both rural and urban, having in their charge the moneys and funds of the districts, shall, before depositing t…

Wherever any excess or surplus remains in any special district in this state created for road improvement, levee, bridge, or drainage construction after the improvement has been completed and all costs and expenses thereof, including all principal and interest of bonds issued, ha…

(a) Wherever any of the special districts or special taxing funds lie and exist wholly in one (1) county, then the county court shall have jurisdiction of the excess or surplus funds and may order them transferred to the general revenue fund of the county. (b) Wherever the specia…

(a) Any citizen or taxpayer shall have the right to contest the transfer of the excess or surplus so remaining by showing that it, or a part thereof, may be required to meet the legal costs, expenses, interest, or bonds of the special district or special taxing funds. (b) Any par…

(a) Upon a petition signed by not less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the owners of real property in any road, bridge, or other improvement district in this state outside of any incorporated city or town, the county judge of the county in which the district lies is authorized …

In all cases where improvement districts may be composed of territory lying in two (2) or more counties, an audit shall be made upon an order of the county judge of each of the counties in which any portion of the territory of the district lies upon a petition signed by twenty-fi…

(a) (1) The Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration or any auditors appointed by him or her shall have power to make a thorough examination into the affairs of a district specified in § 14-86-2001 when called upon by the county judge.(2) (A) The secretary shall …

(a) A full and complete report of the findings of an audit under this subchapter, together with a synopsis of the indebtedness of the district, shall be filed in the office of the Department of Finance and Administration. (b) (1) A copy of the report of the findings of the audit …

(a) An itemized statement of the cost of an audit under this subchapter for each district shall be presented by the county judge to the commissioners of the district for which any audit has been made. (b) It is the duty of the commissioners to allow this claim and pay it in like …

In cases where an audit is ordered to be made in any district that has been abolished or in any district which has no funds with which to pay for the audit, the county judge may order such audits to be made at the expense of the county.