TIF test case in the hands of the Ark. Supreme Court

Stephens Media provides coverage of the oral arguments that were presented yesterday to the Arkansas Supreme Court regarding collections in the Fayetteville TIF district. The issue before the court is the amount of a school district's millage that is subject to TIF collection. I consider this pretty important since the court's ruling can affect funding to public schools (and therefore raises potential Lake View issues).

Arkansas voters adopted Amendment 78 to the Arkansas Constitution in the 2000 general election. This constitutional amendment granted cities and counties the authority to form TIF districts, and to issue bonds in order to finance redevelopment projects. Under Amendment 78, all or a portion of ad valorem taxes levied by cities/counties with property located in the TIF district may be diverted to the TIF district to pay for redevelopment bonds. The first enabling legislation was enacted in 2001, and after a couple of Attorney General Opinions, the 85th General Assembly enacted Act 2231 in 2005 (after considering competing legislation regarding the term "blighted"). The City of Texarkana, Arkansas recently implemented its own TIF district north of I-30.