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Senate committee advances four-bill levy-district package to increase transparency and allow consolidation

Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee · February 23, 2021
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A four-bill package aimed at improving reporting, consolidating dormant levy districts, providing a dissolution process and increasing assessment caps passed the Senate Agriculture committee by voice votes after proponents said the changes will clarify records and help flood-prone areas.

The Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development committee on Tuesday approved a package of four bills designed to clarify how Arkansas levy and drainage districts report finances, allow consolidation of inactive districts, provide a statutory dissolution process and update century-old per-acre assessment caps.

Mark Whitmore, who identified himself as representing the Association of Ash (Ark) Hill Counties, told the committee the bills grew from a task force formed after a major Arkansas River flood. Whitmore said the measures combine the best elements of county clerk and county collector reporting and will send April 1 filings to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADAM) to make assessments,…

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