Title 14, Local Government

(a) All taxes levied under the terms of this chapter shall be payable between the first Monday in January and April 10 of each year. If any taxes levied by the board in pursuance to this chapter are not paid at maturity, the collector shall not embrace the taxes in the taxes for …

No property owner shall be allowed to pay his general taxes without paying the improvement taxes herein provided for.

(a) If the tax first levied shall prove insufficient to pay the bonds, both the principal and interest, issued by the board of commissioners on account of such improvement, as hereinafter provided, as the bonds shall become due and payable, the board shall from time to time make …

(a) The depository shall pay out no money save upon the order of the board and upon a warrant signed by at least two (2) of the commissioners. (b) Every warrant shall state upon its face to whom, the amount, and the purpose for which it is issued. (c) All warrants shall be dated …

(a) In order to meet preliminary expenses and to do the work, the board may issue the negotiable notes or bonds of the district, signed by the members of the board and bearing a rate of interest not exceeding six percent (6%) per annum. The board may pledge and mortgage all asses…

In case 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 land in the district and shall be paid by a levy of a tax thereon upon the assessed value for county and state …

(a) It shall not be lawful for the board of the district or any officer, member, or agent thereof to pledge or deposit any bond or coupon issued under the provisions of this chapter as security for payment of any borrowed money or any debt or obligation of the board or any person…

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

(a) When a bridge is necessary over any stream, the county court is authorized to contract for the building and keeping the bridge in repair, and, when it shall be necessary, over any stream which divides one (1) county from another, the county court of each county shall join in …

(a) (1) Any district organized under the laws of this state or created by special act for the purpose of building a bridge over a nonnavigable stream may issue its negotiable bonds bearing interest at a rate of interest not exceeding six percent (6%) per annum, for the purpose of…

(a) Wherever legal proceedings are commenced or are now pending against property owners who have failed to pay required assessments made against them in any bridge improvement district in this state and summons is or has been issued against the property owners, the circuit clerk …

(a) All bridges in districts where there has been sufficient money collected to pay all outstanding lawful indebtedness of the district are declared free, and they shall become the sole property of the State of Arkansas and shall be maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transp…

(a) The titles of the bridges and to all other real, personal, and mixed properties of bridge improvement districts which either are no longer under control by their commissioners by reason of the assumption heretofore of both the maintenance and control of their bridges by the S…

The terms and provisions of this chapter shall only be applicable for the creation of bridge districts for the construction, operation, and maintenance of interstate bridges and approaches thereto over and across the navigable rivers where the river forms a state boundary. Bridge…

(a) When the circuit court has established the bridge district, it shall appoint five (5) owners of real property within the district to act as commissioners. (b) Each commissioner shall take the oath of office required by the Arkansas Constitution, Article 19, Section 20, and sh…

The board of commissioners shall have the power to employ engineers, attorneys, auditors, manager, or superintendent, and such other employees as may be necessary for the orderly functioning of the district and to fix their respective compensation.

(a) As soon as the board of commissioners shall have formed plans for the bridge and the approaches thereto, and shall have ascertained the cost thereof, it shall file the plans with the circuit clerk. (b) The plans shall be accompanied by a map showing the location of the bridge…

(a) When twenty-five (25) or more owners of real property within a proposed district shall petition the circuit court of the county in which the largest portion of the lands of the proposed district are situated to establish a bridge district to construct, maintain, and operate a…

(a) The circuit clerk shall thereupon give notice by publication for two (2) weeks in some newspaper published and having a general circulation in the counties within which the lands of the proposed district are situated, calling upon all persons owning property therein to appear…

(a) The board of commissioners shall proceed to assess the lands within the district and shall inscribe in a book the description of each tract, piece, and parcel of land and assess the benefits to accrue to each tract, piece, and parcel of land by reason of such improvement and …

(a) When the assessment of benefits is completed, the board of commissioners shall subscribe the assessment and file it with the circuit clerk where it shall be kept and preserved as a public record. (b) Upon the filing of the assessment of benefits, the circuit clerk shall give …

(a) When the assessment of benefits has been made and filed, as provided herein, the property owner shall have the right to pay such assessment of benefits in full within sixty (60) days thereafter, but, if he does not avail himself of this privilege, the assessment of benefits s…

(a) The circuit court, in determining the question of whether the cost of the improvement exceeds the benefits, shall be required to take into consideration only the amount that the district will be required to pay for the cost of the improvement. It shall credit against the tota…

(a) (1) The circuit court shall, at the time the assessment of benefits is filed or at any subsequent time when called upon by the commissioners of the district, enter upon its records an order which shall have the force of a judgment, providing that there shall be assessed upon …

(a) The amount of taxes provided for in this chapter shall be annually extended upon the tax books of the county by the county clerk. The tax shall be collected by the collector of the county along with other taxes. For his services in making the collection, the collector shall r…

If the tax first levied shall prove insufficient to complete the improvement or to pay the bonds, both principal and interest, issued by the board of commissioners for the improvement, as provided in this chapter, as the principal and interest shall become due and payable, then t…

In order to carry out the purposes for which the district is organized and created, the board of commissioners may borrow money at a rate of interest not exceeding six percent (6%) per annum and issue negotiable bonds therefor signed by the chairman or vice chairman and secretary…

(a) All bonds issued by the board of commissioners shall be secured by a lien on all lands, railroads, and tramroads in the district. The board of commissioners shall be required to levy a tax annually and to collect the tax under the provisions of this chapter so long as it is n…

(a) If the board of commissioners shall have ascertained that the construction, maintenance, and operation of the interstate bridge can be financed in whole or in part by the issuance of revenue bonds payable from the tolls so charged and collected, then the board of commissioner…

All interstate bridges shall be constructed under the terms and provisions of the “General Bridge Act of 1946” and any act amendatory thereto.

(a) The board of commissioners is granted the right and power to construct, operate, and maintain the bridge as a toll bridge. It shall have the power to fix and determine, subject to the terms and provisions of the General Bridge Act, the tolls to be charged for transit over the…

(a) For the purpose of carrying into effect the objects and purposes of this chapter, the board of commissioners shall have full power and authority to:(1) Negotiate and enter into contracts with the federal government or any of its agencies, the State Highway Commission, or the …

(a) The board of commissioners acting for and on behalf of the district shall have the right, power, and authority to purchase, hold, and possess real estate necessary for the purposes for which the district was organized. In addition thereto, the district organized under this ch…

This chapter shall apply to all improvement districts created for the construction of a free viaduct connecting with a bridge over a navigable river.

In all viaduct districts described in § 14-321-101, commissioners shall be elected in the manner provided by the laws applying to such districts respectively.

(a) In all the viaduct improvement districts described in § 14-321-101, limitations on bonds that may be issued by a district shall not apply to interest on any bonds or borrowed money. (b) If bonds are issued before the construction work is completed, limitations on the issuance…

If any viaduct improvement district described in § 14-321-101, where it is or may be provided by law that the interest on bonds issued by the district shall not exceed six percent (6%) per annum, nor the bonds be sold for less than par, bonds bearing a lower rate of interest may …

The commissioners of the viaduct improvement districts described in § 14-321-101 shall submit their plans for the improvement to the county court in the county in which the viaduct is to be situated for its approval or disapproval. Appeals from the order of the court may be taken…

The assessment of benefits in any viaduct improvement district described in § 14-321-101 shall be made according to the actual benefits the lands will realize from the making and maintenance of the improvement. The commissioners or assessors in the district, in making the assessm…

In any viaduct improvement district described in § 14-321-101 embracing lands in more than one (1) county, the hearing on the assessment of benefits as they affect the lands in each county shall be had at a place in each county as set forth in the notices of the hearing on the as…

The procedure prescribed herein for the establishment of improvement districts in municipalities of this state shall be supplemental to all other laws of this state with respect to the establishment of municipal improvement districts and shall not be construed to amend, repeal, o…

(a) When the governing body of any city or incorporated town in this state shall deem it desirable to enter into a street improvement program in that city or town or any defined portions thereof, the governing body of the city or town may cause studies to be made of the needs for…

If, within sixty (60) days after the adoption and publication of the resolution by the governing board of the municipality, petitions are filed with the clerk or recorder of the municipality containing the signatures of a majority in value, number, and area of the real property t…

(a) Notice of the public hearing shall be published one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality, at least five (5) days prior to the date fixed for the hearing. (b) The governing body of the municipality may hold a special meeting for the purpose of con…

(a) At the time and place stated in the notice, the governing body of the municipality shall meet and hear all owners of real property in the proposed district who wish to be heard on the question of whether the petitions contain the signatures of a majority in value of the real …

(a) Upon the establishment of the district, the board shall cause an assessment to be made against each lot or parcel of real property in the district based upon the cost of the improvements and the benefits accruing to each lot and parcel of property, with all assessments on pro…