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Arkansas committee hears bill to let improvement districts forgive some delinquent assessments; residents warn of favoritism and constitutional risk
Summary
Senate Bill 182 would let municipal improvement district boards permissively forgive delinquent improvement-assessment fees to clear titles on vacant lots. Witnesses from Cherokee Village warned it could enable preferential treatment, violate constitutional limits and shift costs to other taxpayers; sponsor said he will amend and return the bill.
Senate Bill 182, introduced in the City, County & Local Affairs Committee, would give boards of municipal improvement districts the option to cancel accumulated delinquent improvement-assessment fees after they have accrued, a change backers say would free small vacant lots for sale and reuse.
The bill’s sponsor told the committee the change is permissive, not mandatory, and was drafted in consultation with the Commissioner of State Lands to amend the sections of code governing municipal improvement districts and related suits. "I'm not saying that they have to. I'm not saying that they should. I'm just giving them the option," the sponsor said while describing a case in Horseshoe Bend where assessments exceeded land value.
Why it matters: Improvement-district assessments can accumulate for decades. Sponsors said those unpaid assessments can make otherwise…
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