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AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S


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erty owners are not paying their assessments. Tis is an ongo- ing issue in Pulaski County. Te Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport owns 95 parcels, or just about 10 percent of the property in the Pulaski Drainage No. 2 Improvement District. Te airport does not pay property taxes, and claims the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prevents it from voluntarily paying improvement assessments, revenue that helps cover the costs of operating and maintaining a 7.2-mile levee and its pumps on the Arkansas River. While the Arkan- sas Constitution Article 16 § 5 exempts public entities from taxation, the Arkansas Supreme Court has said the revenue collected by improvement districts from those who benefit from the improvement is considered an assessment, not a tax, so the airport would not necessarily be exempt from im- provement assessments. Airport representatives contend that even so, FAA regulations pre-empt state law on this issue. If the airport paid the assessments, it likely would go a long way in helping the levee district cover its costs, considering that last year the board dipped into its reserve funds to cover budget deficits. Levee district board members may also weigh their funding


options by conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Tey may ask themselves whether it is worth the expense to repair a levee or increase its height to certain specifications. Take the Running Water levee as an example. Te levee district recently took out a $1.2 million loan to build the levee to 28 feet. Would it be worth it to build the levee to, say, 30 feet, if this year was the first time on record the river has crested at 28.95 feet? What are the chances the water would rise to that height again?


Where do we go from here? In some ways it is difficult to figure out where we go from


here. Many of the issues that plague levees and levee districts are not within the control of local, state, or federal govern- ments. We cannot control flooding events. We cannot always secure state or federal funding. We cannot change the fact that the history of levee districts in Arkansas has resulted in a quilt-like assemblage of levees and levee districts. I was told at a retail job I worked once that it is not about the things you cannot change, it is about the things you can change. For example, after the last several legislative sessions, there are new provisions offering mayors and county judges several ways to keep track of their levee districts and to fill vacancies to promote continuity of levee boards. As long as there are people in place to monitor the levees, the likelihood decreas- es that the levees will fall into disrepair. Ultimately, the levee districts in Arkansas have some room for improvement, but


the legislation passed in recent years should help by putting in place better safeguards for levee maintenance and levee district management.


Sources John M. Barry, “Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi


Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America” (Simon & Schuster, 1997). “Flood of 1927,” Te Encyclopedia of Arkansas History


and Culture, http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/ency- clopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2202 (last visited June 26, 2017). Kenneth Heard, “Federal Aid Sough for 31 Counties;


Hutchinson Puts Storm, Levee Break Damage at $13M,” Arkansas Democrat Gazette (June 6, 2017) http://www. arkansasonline.com/news/2017/jun/06/federal-aid-sought- for-31-counties-2017-1/. How Levees Break, How We Fix Tem, U.S. Army Corps


of Engineers, Sacramento District, https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=A1IxIKLV68E (last visited June 26, 2017). Kenneth Heard & Emily Walkenhorst, “Levee Fails, Looses Rising Torrent,” Arkansas Democrat Gazette (May 4, 2017) http://www.pressreader.com/usa/arkansas-democrat-gazet te/20170504/281479276320181. Ark. Op. Att’y Gen. 2004-241 (2004). Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-120-101 through 14-124-116; and


Ark. Op. Att’y Gen. 2004-241 (2004). Ark. Op. Att’y Gen. 2004-241 (2004). Emily Walkenhorst, “53% of Arkansas’ Levees Corp-Listed


as Deficient,” Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Apr. 2, 2017, http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/apr/02/53-of- arkansas-levees-corps-listed-as-d/. 2009 Ark. Acts 386. 2016 Ark. Acts 7. Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, http://www.


anrc.arkansas.gov/, (last visited May 26, 2017). 2011 Ark. Acts 210. 2009 Ark. Acts 386 2016 Ark. Acts 7. 2017 Ark. Acts 623. Chelsea Boozer, “Little Rock Airport: Levee Fees Not on


Radar,” Arkansas Democrat Gazette (May 28, 2017) http:// www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/may/28/lr-airport- levee-fees-not-on-radar-2017/. Ark. Const. art. XVI, § 5. Rainwater v. Haynes, 244 Ark. 1191, 1194, 428 S.W.2d 254, 256 (Ark. 1968).


www.arcounties.org COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2017 17


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