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scheduled to be completed. Assessed value of personal property is 20 percent of the usual selling price at the time of the assessment. Tat is ac- complished by assessors using industry tools/publications that track personal property values. Cities, counties and school districts levy taxes on both real and personal property. Property taxes are based on mills. Most millage levies must be approved by voters before taxes can be levied and collected. However, the county quorum court may approve millage levies for county general and road funds up to the maximum allowed without a vote of the people. City governments may approve millage levies for the city general fund up to the maximum allowed without a vote of the people. But the electors of a county have the legal authority to go through the process of seeking a referendum to repeal any tax levy of the county [Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 7 and A.C.A. 14-14-914]. A mill equals one-thousandth of a dollar (.001). So, 10 mills = .01 and a 40-mill tax rate = .04. A 40-mill property tax means you pay $40 for every $1,000 of assessed value. Tere is a maximum constitutional limit on the number of mills that can be levied by cities and counties. Tere is no maximum limit on the number of mills that can be levied by school districts. However, school districts must levy a mini- mum 25-mill tax, known as the Uniform Rate of Tax, on real and personal property in accordance with Amendment 74 [A.C.A. § 26-80-101] — the result of the Lakeview School District No. 52 v. Huckabee court case concerning school funding. All school district millage changes must be approved by voters.
• Counties can levy up to 21 mills of property tax. Tey include:
5 mills — County general government [Arkan- sas Constitution, Article 16, § 9 and A.C.A. § 26-25-101]. Quorum court can levy without a vote of the electorate.
5 mills — County bonded indebtedness [Arkan- sas Constitution, Amendment 62]. Requires a vote of the electorate. 5 mills — County library maintenance and op- eration [Amendment 38 as amended by Amend- ments 72 & 89]. Requires a vote of the elector- ate to lower, raise or abolish the millage. 3 mills — County library capital improvements and construction [Amendment 38 as amended by Amendments 72 & 89]. Requires a vote of the electorate to lower, raise, or abolish the millage. 3 mills — County roads [Amendment 61 and A.C.A. § 26-79-101]. Quorum court can levy without a vote of the electorate.
Note: Amendment 61 was approved at the COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2020
SEEMS TO ME ...
general election of 1982. Prior to the enact- ment of Amendment 61 the road millage was governed by Amendment 3, which required the road millage to be on the ballot at each general election in each county. If it was defeated, and it sometimes was, the counties defeating the issue did not have a county road tax the following year. An additional note concerning the county road millage in Ar- kansas is that the municipalities get a portion of the county road tax. In accordance with A.C.A. § 26-79-104 one-half of the road tax collected upon property within the corporate limits of any municipality is apportioned to them for use in making and repairing the streets and bridges in the municipality. A few municipalities receive more than one-half of the county road tax due to other specific leg- islation. That type of legislation can no longer be enacted by the State Legislature due to the passage of Amendment 14, which prohibits local or special acts.
• Cities can levy up to 20 mills of property tax, including: 5 mills — City general government. [City Council]
5 mills — City bonded indebtedness. 5 mills — City library maintenance and operation. 3 mills — City library capital improvements and construction. 1 mill — Police pension. 1 mill — Firemen pension.
Note: Te City Council may increase or de- crease the general millage. All of the other mill- age rates must be approved by voters.
Tax Process Procedure
Te number of mills levied by the city, county and school district will vary from county to county, and even from ju- risdiction to jurisdiction within a county. It all depends on the number of mills approved either by voters or, in some cases, approved by the county and municipal governing bodies. Ultimately, the county quorum court levies all of the approved millage rates in a tax levy ordinance enacted in either November or December applicable for the follow- ing tax collection year. How does the taxpayer end up with a certain dollar amount on their property tax statement? Here’s a simpli- fied procedure:
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