Title 14, Local Government

(a) The articles of incorporation shall be signed and acknowledged by the incorporators and shall have attached to them a certified copy of the resolution required by § 14-175-107. (b) (1) The articles of incorporation, together with a certified copy of the resolution required by…

(a) The corporation shall have a board of directors composed of five (5) to fifteen (15) members, as specified in the corporation's articles of incorporation. (b) All powers of the corporation shall be exercised by the board or pursuant to its authorization. (c) (1) (A) The direc…

(a) (1) The officers of the corporation shall consist of:(A) A chair;(B) A vice chair;(C) A secretary;(D) A treasurer; and(E) Such other officers as the board shall deem necessary to accomplish the purposes for which the corporation was organized.(2) The offices of secretary and …

(a) The corporation shall have and exercise all of the rights, powers, privileges, authority, and functions given by the general laws of this state to nonprofit corporations incorporated under the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993, § 4-33-101 et seq. (b) In addition to t…

(a) All tax proceeds received by a corporation under § 14-174-101 et seq. shall be used for any one (1) or more of the following purposes:(1) To pay administrative costs incurred by the corporation;(2) To pay costs incurred in connection with a project;(3) To pay costs incurred f…

(1) A corporation may spend tax revenue received under this chapter for job training offered through an enterprise only if the enterprise has committed in writing to:(1) Create new jobs that pay wages that are at least equal to the prevailing wage for the applicable occupation in…

The corporation, the corporation's board of directors, officers, employees and agents, the local government approving the organization of a corporation, members of the governing body of the local government, and employees of the local government are not liable for damages arising…

(a) Each corporation shall make a written report to the governing body that created the corporation concerning its activities for the preceding calendar year. (b) Each report shall include audited financial statements covering the corporation's operations during the preceding cal…

(a) Each corporation is subject to the provisions of the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993, § 4-33-101 et seq., to the extent that those provisions are not in conflict with the provisions of this chapter. (b) If a provision of the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 19…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Local Job Creation, Job Expansion, and Economic Development Act of 2017”.

(1) As used in this chapter:(1) “Chief executive” means the:(A) Mayor, city administrator, or city manager of a municipality; or(B) County judge of a county;(2) (A) “County” means a county in the State of Arkansas.(B) “County” does not mean a public corporation for economic devel…

(a) A municipality or county may obtain or appropriate money for a corporation, association, institution, political subdivision of the state, the United States Government, or an individual to:(1) Finance economic development projects; or(2) Provide economic development services. …

(a) (1) Before entering into a contract for an economic development project, the governing body shall review and approve an economic impact and cost-benefit analysis of the economic development project.(2) The economic impact and cost-benefit analysis under subdivision (a)(1) of …

(a) Economic development service contracts shall:(1) Be approved by the governing body in ordinance or resolution form after following applicable bidding, procurement, and professional services procedures in accordance with state law or local ordinance;(2) Be recorded in writing;…

Contracts, agreements, and actions taken under this chapter do not affect the tax-exempt status of the state or any municipality or county engaged in work under this chapter.

(a) Section 21-9-301 et seq. applies to this chapter. (b) A municipality or county is not liable for any action related to the providing of, or contractual agreement to enter into, an economic development project or economic development service, except as provided by law.

(a) Except as provided in this section, appropriations for economic development projects by a governing body under this chapter shall not exceed in a fiscal year five percent (5%) of the total of the municipality's or county's unobligated general revenue and reserves of the previ…

A municipality or county may engage the services of a singular entity to administer economic development projects and economic development services under this chapter.

(1) This chapter does not prohibit or restrict the use of funding economic development projects through the proceeds of:(1) Revenue bonds issued in accordance with Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 65; or(2) Capital improvement or economic development bonds issued in accordance wi…

The use of federal and state grants is excluded from the restrictions and limitations of this chapter.

The use of interlocal agreements under the Interlocal Cooperation Act, § 25-20-101 et seq., is excluded from the restrictions and limitations of this chapter.

Economic development projects that are under way on January 1, 2017, are exempt from the restrictions and limitations of this chapter.

This subchapter may be referred to and cited as the “Central Business Improvement District Act.”

This subchapter shall be construed as cumulative of existing laws relating to the creation, operation, and existence of municipal improvement districts and shall not repeal any existing law unless the law is in direct conflict with this subchapter. It is the intent of this subcha…

(a) It is determined and declared by the General Assembly that:(1) The deterioration of the central business districts of urban centers of the state by reason of obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, deleterious land use, or a combination of these or other fac…

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Acquire” means obtain property rights by gift, purchase, devise, bequest, eminent domain, lease, sublease, assignment of lease, or any combination or variant of these means;(2) “Assessed value” means value…

(a) This subchapter shall be construed liberally. (b) The enumeration of any object, purpose, power, manner, method, and thing shall not be deemed to exclude like or similar objects, purposes, powers, manners, methods, and things.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, the provisions of Acts 1881, No. 84; Acts 1899, No. 183; and all other laws of the State of Arkansas pertaining to municipal improvement districts, in general, as they may be amended from time to time, shall be applicable to a …

The governing body of any first-class or second-class municipality of the state is authorized to create, by ordinance, one (1) or more central business improvement districts in the manner and for the purposes provided in this subchapter.

(a) (1) (A) When persons claiming to be owners of two thirds (⅔) in assessed value, as shown by the last county assessment, of real property in the area proposed to comprise a central business improvement district, file with the city clerk a petition for the organization of a dis…

(a) After the filing of a petition for the creation of a central business improvement district, no petitioner shall be permitted to withdraw his name from it. (b) No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void on account of formal or insubstantial defects. (c) T…

A central business improvement district organized under this subchapter is authorized to pay reasonable compensation to those persons who have done necessary or desirable preliminary work in the organization of it, including the fees of abstractors and title companies, engineers,…

(a) (1) (A) In the ordinance creating a central business improvement district, the governing body shall appoint a minimum of five (5) persons who shall be owners of real property in the district or officers or stockholders of a corporation owning real property within the district…

(a) (1) As soon as is practicable after the qualification of its members, the board of commissioners for a central business improvement district shall form plans for the improvement as described in the petition and shall obtain estimates of the cost of it.(2) Prior to the filing …

(a) (1) In the preparation of the plan of improvement, a central business improvement district is authorized to employ architects and engineers to prepare plans, specifications, and estimates of cost for the construction of the improvements and to supervise and inspect the constr…

(a) (1) If for any cause the improvement shall not be made, the cost shall be a charge upon the real property in the central business improvement district and shall be raised and paid by an assessment upon the real property in the district as assessed for state and county purpose…

(1) A central business improvement district has all powers necessary or desirable to undertake and carry out all parts of the planned improvement, including without limitation:(1) Existence as a body corporate, having the power to sue and to be sued and to contract in its name;(2…

(a) The right and power of eminent domain is conferred upon a central business improvement district to enter upon, take, and condemn private property for the construction of improvements described in the plan of improvement. (b) The right and power of eminent domain conferred by …

(1) The governing body of any municipality shall have all powers necessary or desirable to undertake and carry out, or to assist a central business improvement district to undertake and carry out, all improvements described in the ordinance setting up the district including, but …

(a) (1) In order to effectuate the plan of improvement and to maintain the improvements constructed under it, it may be desirable to provide additional funds for operation, maintenance, repairs, and replacements, and to levy a supplemental annual assessment upon the property owne…

(a) (1) Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to limit or prohibit the operation of any facility which is a part of the plan of improvement as a revenue-producing facility.(2) Without limiting the generality of this provision, a central business improvement district may cons…

(a) For the purpose of providing funds to pay preliminary expenses, to construct improvements according to the plan, or to pay for an improvement already completed, a central business improvement district may borrow money in an amount not exceeding the estimated costs of it, incl…

(a) The bonds of the district, whether payable from assessments, from revenues, or from both shall be authorized by a resolution of the board of commissioners. (b) The authorizing resolution may contain any of the terms, covenants, and conditions that are deemed desirable by the …

(a) As the board of commissioners shall determine, the bonds may:(1) Be coupon bonds, payable to bearer, or may be registrable as to principal only or as to principal and interest, and may be made exchangeable for bonds of another denomination;(2) Be in such form and denomination…

(a) The authorizing resolution may provide for the execution by the district with a bank or trust company, within or without the State of Arkansas, of a trust indenture. (b) The trust indenture may contain any terms, covenants, and conditions that are deemed desirable by the boar…

(a) The bonds may be sold for such price, including without limitation sale at a discount, and at such rate of interest and in such manner as the board may determine by resolution. (b) Any bank, savings and loan association, or other financial institution regulated by an agency o…