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Insect Management
Red Imported Fire Ants
Abatement Legislation
The text was modified from text
taken from
Arkansas State Legislature's Home Page
Stricken language would be deleted from present law. Underlined
language would be added to present law.
SB 512
As Engrossed: S2/28/97
State of ArkansasAs Engrossed: S2/28/97
81st General Assembly
A Bill
ACT 590 OF 1997
Regular Session, 1997
SENATE BILL 512
Senators Scott, Mahony, Hill and Hopkins
Representatives Lancaster, Faris, French, Jeffress, Ingram, Angel,
Schexnayder and Rodgers
For An Act To Be Entitled
"AN ACT PERTAINING TO RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT ABATEMENT DISTRICTS; AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES."
Subtitle
"AN ACT PERTAINING TO RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT ABATEMENT DISTRICTS; AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
SECTION 1. For purposes of this act:
(1) "Red Imported Fire Ant" means Solenopsis invicta.
(2) "Board" means the Board of Commissioners of each Red Imported Fire Ant
abatement district.
SECTION 2. (a) The county board of commissioners shall call a special
election in the county, city, or designated area of the city to
determine whether a Red Imported Fire Ant abatement district shall be
established for the area upon the filing of petitions with the county
court of any county containing the signatures of ten percent (10%) or
more of the qualified electors of all or any defined part of any county,
or all or any defined part of any city, as determined by the total
number of votes cast for Governor at the last general election by the
qualified electors of the county, city, or designated portion thereof,
requesting the establishment of a Red Imported Fire Ant abatement
district in the county or a designated portion of the county or in the
city or designated portion of the city and requesting that assessed
benefits be made on the property located in the district to finance the
operation of the district.
(b) Petitions filed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall
specifically define the area proposed to be included in the Red Imported
Fire Ant abatement district and shall specify the maximum assessed
benefits which may be levied against property within the district for
the support of the district. In no event shall the assessed benefits in
any district exceed an amount equal to one percent (1%) of the assessed
valuation of real property in the district.
(c) The quorum court of the county may on its own motion enact an
ordinance directing the county court to call a special election in the
county, city, or designated area of the city to determine whether a Red
Imported Fire Ant abatement district shall be established for the area.
SECTION 3. (a) The special election called by the county court to submit
the question of the establishment and financing of a Red Imported Fire
Ant abatement district to the electors of the proposed district shall be
held within ninety (90) days after the petitions requesting the election
have been filed with the county court.
(b) At the election, the question of establishing and financing the
district shall be placed on the ballot in substantially the following
form:
"FOR the establishment of a Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta)
abatement district in _______ county, _______(city),
_____________________(designated area) and the establishment of assessed
benefits on real property in the district in an amount not to exceed one
percent (1%) of the assessed valuation of real property in the district
to finance the district ___________.
AGAINST the establishment of a Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta)
abatement district in _______ county, _______(city),
_____________________(designated area) and the establishment of assessed
benefits on real property in the district in an amount not to exceed one
percent (1%) of the assessed valuation of real property in the district
to finance the district ___________."
SECTION 4. (a) Upon approval by the voters of the Red Imported Fire Ant
abatement district and the levy of assessed benefits to support the
district, the county court shall enter an order establishing the
district as described in the petitions and shall appoint five (5)
qualified electors of the district as a board of commissioners for the
district. Two (2) members of the commission shall be appointed for terms
of two (2) years and three (3) members shall be appointed for terms of
three (3) years.
(b) All successor members shall be appointed by the county court for terms
of three (3) years.
(c) Vacancies occurring on the board for reasons other than the expiration
of a term shall be filled by the county court for the unexpired term.
(d) The members of the board shall serve without compensation, but shall
be entitled to actual expenses incurred in attending meetings in an
amount not to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each member of
the board.
SECTION 5. (a)(1) The board shall annually choose from among its members a
chairman and a secretary-treasurer.
(2) The chairman and secretary-treasurer shall furnish bonds conditioned
upon faithful performance of their duties in the amount of five thousand
dollars ($5,000) each. The cost of securing and maintaining the bonds
shall be paid from funds of the district.
(b)(1) The board shall employ a director who shall have such training,
experience, and qualifications as may be prescribed by the Cooperative
Extension Service, and an entomologist associated with the University of
Arkansas system. The board may employ such other employees as it deems
necessary to carry out the purposes of the district.
(2) Employees of the board shall have such responsibilities and receive
such compensations as may be prescribed by the board.
(c) The county in which any district is located shall cooperate with and
assist the board by providing suitable office space and meeting
facilities for the board and its staff.
(d) The board shall meet at least quarterly and at such other times as it
may deem necessary to properly carry out its responsibilities.
(1) Meetings shall be called by the chairman or a majority of the members
of the board.
(2) Three (3) members of the board shall constitute a quorum and any
substantive action of the board shall require an affirmative vote of at
least three (3) members of the board.
(e) A Cooperative Extension Services specialist involved in fire ant
education and/or the county agent chairman shall serve as ex officio
members of the board and shall serve without compensation. The
Cooperative Extension Services specialist, the county agent or their
representatives shall cooperate with and assist the board by furnishing
the board with such surveys, maps, information, and advice as may be
helpful to the board in carrying out its responsibilities and to assist
in such other manner as may be reasonably requested by the board.
(f) The board shall be responsible for approving materials used in the Red
Imported Fire Ant abatement district and shall be responsible for
certifying applicators using those materials.
SECTION 6. Any county or city creating a Red Imported Fire Ant abatement
district will be responsible to the Fire Ant Advisory Board. The board
of commissioners of each Red Imported Fire Ant abatement district shall
submit to the Fire Ant Advisory Board an annual report of any abatement
program initiated including information regarding the techniques used,
their effectiveness, and any problems encountered in the program, the
cost of such techniques, and moneys collected.
SECTION 7. (a) As soon as is practical after its establishment, the board
shall prepare plans for providing Red Imported Fire Ant abatement
services and for acquiring the property and equipment necessary to carry
out the purposes of the district.
(b) The board shall thereupon appoint three (3) assessors to assess the
annual benefits which will accrue to the real property within the
district as a result of the Red Imported Fire Ant abatement services and
shall fix their compensation.
(1) The assessors shall take an oath that they will assess all annual
benefits that will accrue to the landowners of the district as a result
of the Red Imported Fire Ant abatement services.
(2) The assessors shall thereupon proceed to assess the annual benefits to
the lands within the district. They shall inscribe in a book each tract
of land and shall extend opposite each tract of land the amount of
annual benefits that will accrue each year to the land by reason of the
services.
(c) The original assessment of benefits and any reassessment shall be
advertised and equalized in the manner provided in this act, and owners
of all property whose assessment has been raised shall have the right to
be heard and to appeal from the decision of the assessors, as provided
in this act.
(d) The assessors shall place opposite each tract the name of the owner,
as shown by the last county assessment, but a mistake in the name shall
not void the assessment, and the assessors shall correct errors which
occur in the county or district assessment list.
(e) The commissioners shall have the authority to fill any vacancy in the
position of assessor, and the assessors shall hold their office at the
pleasure of the board.
SECTION 8. (a) The assessment shall be filed with the county clerk of the
county in which the property is located, and the secretary of the board
shall thereupon give notice of its filing by publication one (1) time a
week for two (2) weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county. The notice shall be in the following form:
"Notice is hereby given that the assessment of annual benefits of
________District Number _________ has been filed in the office of the
County Clerk of ________ where it is open for inspection. All person
wishing to be heard regarding the assessment will be heard by the
assessors of the district in the office of the county clerk between the
hours of one (1:00) p.m. and four (4:00) p.m., at ___________on the
____, 19__."
(b) On the day named by the notice, it shall be the duty of the assessors
to meet, at the place named, as a board of assessors, to hear all
complaints against the assessment, and to equalize and adjust the
assessments. The determination shall be final unless suit is brought in
the chancery court within thirty (30) days after the original
determination by the assessors. If the board is unable to hear all
complaints submitted between the hours designated in this act, the
assessors shall adjourn over from day to day until all parties have been
heard.
SECTION 9. (a) The commissioners shall one (1) time a year order the
assessors to reassess the annual benefits of the district, provided
there have been improvements made or improvements destroyed or removed
from one (1) or more tracts of land in the district, making it necessary
to have the annual benefits revised.
(b)(1) Whereupon, it shall be the duty of the assessors to reassess the
benefits of the district, and the annual benefits assessed may be raised
or lowered as conditions of the property change.
(2) However, the annual benefits extended against any piece of property
shall not be increased from the annual benefits originally extended
unless improvements are made to the land that will be benefited by the
Red Imported Fire Ant abatement services provided by the district.
SECTION 10. (a) The original assessment record or any reassessment record
shall be filed with the county clerk, whose duty it shall be to extend
the annual benefit assessment annually upon the tax books of the county
until the district is dissolved.
(b) It shall then be the duty of the county collector to collect each year
the annual benefit assessment extended upon the book along with the
other taxes, and the taxes shall be paid over by the collector to the
depository of the district at the same time the collector pays over the
county funds.
(c)(1) If there is any change in the annual benefits assessed, a certified
copy of the revised assessment shall be filed with the county clerk who
shall extend the revised assessment annually upon the tax books until a
new assessment is made, which shall be extended upon the tax books in a
similar manner. The power to reassess and extend the assessment upon the
tax books shall be a continuing power as long as the district continues
to exist. It shall be the duty of the county collector to collect the
taxes so extended.
(2) In lieu of filing the reassessment, the assessors may make the changes
in the assessment in red ink on the assessment already on file, or the
assessment record may contain many columns at the head of which the year
shall be designated and, in the column, the new annual benefits may be
shown in red ink which will indicate any increase or decrease in the
original annual benefits extended. When the change is made, a red ink
line shall be drawn through the figures showing the original annual
benefits extended.
SECTION 11. (a) Funds of the district shall be expended only upon the
order of the board and upon a voucher check signed by the chairman and
secretary/treasurer of the board.
(1) Every voucher check shall state upon its face to whom the amount is
payable, and the purpose for which it is issued.
(2) All voucher checks shall be dated and shall be numbered consecutively
in a record to be kept by the board of the number and amount of the
check.
(b) All proceedings and transactions of the board shall be a matter of
public record and shall be open to the inspection of the public.
(c) The board shall file with the county clerk in January of each year a
certified itemized report showing all moneys received, the date of
receipt, and the source from which received; and all moneys paid out,
date paid, to whom paid, and for what purpose, during the preceding
year, together with an itemized list of all delinquent assessments
showing owner, description of property, years for which the assessment
is delinquent, and the amount of the total delinquency.
SECTION 12. (a) The board shall have the authority to issue negotiable
bonds or certificates of indebtedness to secure funds for the expenses
of the district including office supplies and salaries, the purchase of
equipment, facilities, chemicals, and such other items as may be
necessary to carry out the purposes of the district.
(1) Bonds issued by the board shall be for a term not more than twenty
(20) years and shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed the
constitutional maximum.
(2) To secure the bonds, the board may pledge all or a portion of the
benefit assessed against real property in the district.
(b) Bonds of the districts shall be authorized by resolution of the board
and may be registrable as to principal only or as to principal and
interest and may be made exchangeable for bonds of another denomination;
may be in such form and denomination; may have such date or dates; may
be stated to mature at such times; may bear interest payable at such
times and at such rate or rates, provided that no bond may bear interest
at a rate exceeding the constitutional maximum; may be payable at such
places within or without the State of Arkansas; may be made subject to
such terms of redemption in advance of maturity at such prices; and may
contain such terms and conditions, as the board shall determine.
(1) The bonds shall have all the qualities of negotiable instruments under
the laws of the State of Arkansas, subject to provisions as to
registration as set forth in this act.
(2) The authorizing resolution may contain any of the terms, covenants and
conditions that are deemed desirable by the board including, without
limitation, those pertaining to the maintenance of various funds and
reserves, the nature and extent of the security, the issuance of
additional bonds and the nature of the lien and pledge, parity or
priority, in that event, the custody and application of the proceeds of
the bonds, the collection and disposition of revenues, the investing and
reinvesting in securities specified by the board of any moneys during
the periods not needed for the authorized purposes, and the rights,
duties, and obligations of the district, the board, and of the holders
and registered owners of the bonds.
(c) The authorizing resolution may provide for the execution of a trust
indenture by the district with a bank or trust company within or without
the State or Arkansas. The trust indenture may contain any terms,
covenants, and conditions that are deemed desirable by the board
including, without limitation, those pertaining to the maintenance of
various funds and reserves, the nature and extent of the security, the
issuance of additional bonds and the nature of the lien and pledge,
parity or priority, in that event, the custody and application of the
proceeds of the bonds, the collections and disposition of assessments
and of revenues, the investing and reinvesting in securities specified
by the board of any moneys during the periods not needed for authorized
purposes, and the rights, duties, and obligations of the board and the
holders and registered owners of the bonds.
(d) The bonds shall be sold at a public sale through sealed bids.
(1) Notice of the sale shall be published one (1) time a week for at least
two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper having a general circulation
throughout the State of Arkansas, with the first publication to
be at least twenty (20) days prior to the date of sale and may be
published in such other publications as the district may determine.
(2) The bonds may be sold at such price as the board may accept including
sale at a discount, but in no event shall any bid be accepted which
results in a net interest cost, which is determined by computing the
aggregate interest cost from the date to maturity at the rate or rates
bid and deducting any premium or adding any amount of any discount, in
excess of the interest cost computed at par for bonds bearing interest
at the maximum rate prescribed by the Arkansas Constitution.
(3) The award, if made, shall be to the bidder whose bid results in the
lowest net interest cost.
(e)(1) The bonds shall be executed by the manual or facsimile signature of
the chairman of the board and by the manual signature of the
secretary/treasurer of the board.
(2) In case any of the officers whose signature appear on the bonds shall
cease to be officers before the delivery of the bonds, their signatures
shall, nevertheless, be valid and sufficient for all purposes.
(f) The district shall adopt and use a seal in the execution and issuance
of the bonds, and each bond shall be sealed with the seal of the
district.
SECTION 13. (a)(1) It shall be plainly stated on the face of each bond
that it has been issued under the provisions of this act, that the bonds
shall be obligations only of the district, and that in no event shall
they constitute any indebtedness for which the faith and credit of the
state or any county or municipality or any of the revenues of the state
or any county or municipality are pledged.
(2) No member of the board shall be personally liable on the bonds or for
any damages sustained by anyone in connection with any contracts entered
into in carrying out the purpose and intent of this act, unless
the board member has not acted as a reasonably prudent person would.
(b)(1) The principal of, interest on, and paying agent's fees in
connection with the bonds shall be secured by a lien on, and pledge of,
and shall be payable from the assessments levied against the real
property within the district.
(2) The right to issue subsequent issues of bonds can, if the district so
determines, be reserved in any authorizing resolution or trust indenture
on either a parity or subordinate lien basis and upon such terms and
conditions as the district may determine and specify in the particular
authorizing resolution or trust indenture.
SECTION 14. (a) Bonds may be issued for the purpose of refunding any bonds
issued under this act.
(b) Refunding bonds may be either sold or delivered in exchange for the
bonds being refunded. If sold, the proceeds may be either applied to the
payment of the bonds being refunded or deposited in trust and there be
maintained in cash or investments for the retirement of the bonds being
refunded, as shall be specified by the district in the resolution or
trust indenture securing the bonds.
(c) The resolution or trust indenture securing the refunding bonds may
provide that the refunding bonds shall have the same priority on
assessments or revenues pledged for their payment as possessed by the
bonds refunded.
(d) Refunding bonds shall be sold and secured in accordance with the
provisions of this act pertaining to the sale and security bonds.
SECTION 15. Bonds issued under the provisions of this act, and the
interest thereon, shall be exempt from all state, county, and municipal
taxes. This exemption shall include income, inheritance, and estate
taxes.
SECTION 16. (a) A Red Imported Fire Ant abatement district created under
this act may be dissolved upon a vote of a majority of the qualified
electors of the district, and the question of dissolution of the
district may be submitted to the electors in the same manner as is
prescribed in this act submitting the question of the establishment of
the district.
(b) If any district having outstanding bonds or other indebtedness is
dissolved, the assessed benefits being levied at the time of dissolution
shall continue to be levied and collected until the outstanding bonds or
their indebtedness are paid.
(c) No election on the question of dissolution of a Red Imported Fire Ant
abatement district may be held within the first three (3) years after
the establishment of the district.
SECTION 17. All provisions of this act of a general and permanent nature
are amendatory to the Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated and the Arkansas
Code Revision Commission shall incorporate the same in the Code.
SECTION 18. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the
provisions of this act are declared to be severable.
SECTION 19. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.
SECTION 20. EMERGENCY. It is hereby found and determined by the General
Assembly that there is an urgent need for legislation to grant the
authority to establish Red Imported Fire Ant abatement districts in
certain areas of this state and to provide a procedure for financing the
activities of such districts; that this act is designed to grant such
authority and to prescribe the procedure therefore and to authorize such
districts to issue bonds to fund the activities of the district; and
that this act should be given immediate effect to enable the electors in
various areas of this state to immediately take appropriate steps to
establish such districts. Therefore, an emergency is declared to exist
and this act being immediately necessary for the preservation of the
public peace, health and safety shall become effective on the date of
its approval by the Governor. If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed
by the Governor, it shall become effective on the expiration of the
period of time during which the Governor may veto the bill. If the bill
is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is overridden, it shall become
effective on the date the last house overrides the veto.
/s/Scott et al
APPROVED:3-17-97
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