Title 14, Local Government

(a) When the owners of two-thirds (⅔) in assessed value of the real property located within any district shall sign a petition stating that the petitioners believe it to be in the best interest of the district that the board, or any member thereof, be removed and shall file the p…

(a) The board shall form plans relative to the acceptance, purchase, or construction of the improvement. (b) To that end, the board may employ such engineers, attorneys, and other assistants as it may find necessary and shall file copies of all pertinent reports and actions of th…

(a) Any district, in furtherance of any of the purposes set forth in § 14-94-105, shall have the authority to hire managers and other employees and to pay their salaries incident to the operation and maintenance of any of the improvements authorized by this chapter. It shall also…

Each district shall be a body corporate with power to sue and to be sued on its contracts, and it shall have a corporate seal.

(a) All districts organized under this chapter shall have the right of eminent domain in order that they may carry out the purposes of their creation. (b) This right shall be exercised in the same manner as in the case of railroad, telegraph, and telephone companies, but without …

Any property that may be acquired by any district organized under this chapter may be sold by the board of the district for the price and on the terms it deems best.

(a) All cases involving the validity of districts or the assessment of benefits and all suits to foreclose the lien or taxes shall be deemed matters of public interest and shall be advanced and disposed of at the earliest possible moment. (b) All appeals therefrom must be taken a…

(a) (1) In the event that the board shall have voted to accept any offer of gift, or shall have voted to purchase any improvement, or shall have voted to construct any improvement or any facilities for the improvement, it shall thereupon appoint an assessor to assess the benefits…

(a) (1) The assessment shall be filed with the clerk.(2) (A) The secretary of the board shall thereupon give notice of its filing by two (2) publications in a newspaper having a general circulation in the municipality in which the district lies, with the first publication to be n…

(a) The board may, not more often than one (1) time a year, require the assessor to reassess the benefits in the district. However, in the event the district shall have incurred any indebtedness or issued bonds, the total amount of assessed benefits shall never be diminished. (b)…

(a) (1) At the same time that the assessment of benefits is equalized or at any time thereafter, the board shall enter upon its records an order, which shall have all the force of a judgment, providing that there is levied upon the real property of the district a tax sufficient t…

The assessment of the benefits shall bear interest at a rate equal to the lesser of the maximum rate permitted by law or the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum from the time it is equalized, but the interest need not be calculated until it is necessary to do so to avoid exceedin…

(a) (1) When the board shall make the levy of taxes, it shall be the duty of the assessor to extend the amount levied and set forth the amount in the assessment book opposite each benefit assessed in a column marked “Annual Collection”. The assessor shall file a certified copy of…

(a) If the tax first levied shall prove insufficient to pay the bonds, both the principal and interest, issued by the board on account of the improvement, as provided in this chapter, as the principal and interest on the bonds shall become due and payable, the board shall from ti…

(a) Payment. All taxes levied under the terms of this chapter shall be payable in installments at the same time as county, city, and school district taxes are paid. (b) Delinquencies. (1) If any taxes levied by the board under this chapter are not paid at maturity, the county tax…

(a) (1) In order to meet preliminary expenses and to finance the cost of the improvements to be accomplished, with costs incidental to them and to the issuance of the bonds, the board may issue bonds of the district and may pledge all assessments of benefits to the district and a…

The bonds, and interest on them, shall be exempt from all state, county, and municipal taxes, including income, property, and inheritance taxes.

(a) (1) All bonds issued under the terms of this chapter shall be secured by a lien on all real property in the district.(2) The making of assessments, levies, and collections, as authorized by this chapter, may be enforced by mandamus. (1) All bonds issued under the terms of thi…

(a) (1) After all bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, plus all interest on them, shall have been paid in full, then a district may, by unanimous vote of the members of the board, be dissolved and all further levies and assessments cancelled, the members of the board relieve…

If for any reason the improvement contemplated by any district organized under this chapter is not made, the preliminary expense shall be a first lien upon all the real property in the district and shall be paid by a levy of a tax on it. The levy shall be made by the chancery cou…

If the petition for formation of the district provides therefor or the owners of real property in the district agree thereto, a district shall not cease to exist upon the acquiring, construction, or completion of the improvement, but it shall continue to exist for the purpose of …

(1) The intent of this chapter is:(1) To enable municipalities to establish urban service districts upon petition by residents in a proposed district for the provision of services;(2) To provide for the management of the services;(3) To authorize the levying of fees for payment o…

Urban service districts may be established, operated, combined, enlarged, reduced, or abolished, subject to the provisions of this chapter, by ordinance of the governing body of a city or town to provide one (1) or more of the services authorized to be provided by the municipal g…

(a) An urban service district may include all or any part of the jurisdictional areas of a municipality. (b) Two (2) or more cities, or one (1) or more cities and one (1) or more towns, may create a joint service district through an interlocal agreement.

(a) An urban service district shall be defined as a municipal service organization established to provide one (1) or more city services or additional municipal services and financed from revenues secured from within the designated service area through the levy and collection of s…

Notwithstanding any provisions of law requiring uniform taxation within a municipality, a municipal governing body, by ordinance, may establish urban service districts and levy service charges to provide and finance any municipal service or function which a municipality is otherw…

(1) An urban service district may be established in the following manner:(1) (A) Upon petition to the governing body of a city or town signed by not less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the electors of a proposed urban service district, the governing body of a city or town may …

(1) An ordinance to establish an urban service district shall include:(1) The name of the proposed district;(2) The services to be provided by the proposed district;(3) The convenience or necessity of the proposed district;(4) A map containing the boundaries of the proposed distr…

All provisions of Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 7, shall apply to an ordinance establishing an urban service district.

(a) Once an urban service district has incurred bond indebtedness, it shall not be dissolved or modified in any respect until all bonds are retired. (b) This prohibition shall not prevent the creation of a new or additional district with boundaries larger, smaller, or coextensive…

(1) The governing body of a city or town may, by ordinance, with notice and public hearing:(1) Decrease or terminate the type of services and associated fees that the urban service district is authorized to provide, unless fifty percent (50%) or more of the electors residing in t…

(1) Dissolution or any combination of service districts shall provide for the following:(1) The transfer or other disposition of property and other rights, claims, and assets of the district;(2) The payment of all obligations from the resources of the district;(3) The payment of …

All changes in urban service districts may be submitted to the electors of the existing or proposed district, whichever is larger, by initiative or referendum.

(a) An urban service district shall be administered directly as a part of the office of the mayor, or the city manager or city administrator, as a part of a department with or without an advisory or administrative board, or as a separate department with or without an advisory or …

(a) The governing body of the city or town is authorized to levy, by ordinance, service charges for the district to establish, operate, maintain, support, and otherwise provide any and all services authorized for the district. (b) (1) Service charges adopted by the governing body…

(a) (1) Service charges for urban service districts may be entered on the municipal water bill, sewer bill, or garbage bill.(2) Funds collected on the bills by the municipal utilities shall be paid over to the depository for the district's funds.(3) Upon nonpayment of service fee…

(a) The governing body of a city or town which has established an urban service district is authorized to compile a program of capital construction, reconstruction, and improvements within the district and submit the program to the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. (b) Each…

(a) To finance the cost of the program, the governing body of each municipality shall adopt a resolution pledging the urban service district's service charges, or a portion thereof, to finance the program compiled for the district. (b) The resolution shall specify:(1) The distric…

(a) On and after the effective date of this chapter, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority is authorized:(1) To receive from an urban service district a pledge of revenues; and(2) To package several programs of the districts from several counties and municipalities into a si…

(a) Pursuant to the intention of the General Assembly expressed in § 15-5-303, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to issue revenue bonds, at one (1) time or from time to time, and to use the proceeds there of to:(1) Provide urban service…

(a) Bonds may be issued for the purpose of refunding any bonds issued under this chapter. (b) Refunding bonds may be issued by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority pursuant to the provisions of § 15-5-314.

All pledged revenues are hereby specifically declared to be restricted in their use and dedicated and to be used solely as provided and authorized in this chapter.

(a) Commencing the first day of the month succeeding the issuance of the bonds under this chapter and so long as any bonds are outstanding under this chapter, the pledged revenues of each municipality's urban service district shall be periodically transferred to the authority and…

(a) The Arkansas Development Finance Authority shall include necessary provisions in the authorizing resolution or trust indenture to provide for the deposit of the proceeds of the bonds pursuant to the provisions of § 15-5-209. (b) The authority may create and establish one (1) …

(a) The principal of, premiums, if any, interest on, and trustees' and paying agents' fees in connection with the bonds shall be secured by a lien on and pledge of, and shall be payable from, the pledged revenues defined in § 14-95-608. (b) The authorizing resolution or trust ind…

The principal of, premiums, if any, interest on, and trustees' and paying agents' fees in connection with all bonds issued under this chapter shall be secured solely by a lien on and pledge of each municipality's urban service district's revenues derived from their service charge…