reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AR Code § 14-184-102 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-102. Purpose

 This subchapter shall be construed as cumulative of existing laws relating to the creation, operation, and existence of municipal improvement districts and shall not repeal any existing law unless the law is in direct conflict with this subchapter. It is the intent of this subchapter to provide additional authority to municipalities for creation of improvement districts and to authorize and enumerate additional powers for these districts.
AR Code § 14-184-103 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-103. Legislative determinations

 (a) It is determined and declared by the General Assembly that:  (1) The deterioration of the central business districts of urban centers of the state by reason of obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, deleterious land use, or a combination of these or other factors is a threat to the property tax and other revenue sources of municipalities;  (2) Increases in population and automobile usage have created conditions of traffic congestion in central business districts, and such conditions constitute a hazard to the safety of pedestrians and impede the use of public rights-of-way;  (3) The elimination of urban blight and decay and the modernization and general improvement of central business districts by governmental action are considered necessary to promote the public health, safety, and welfare of the communities; and  (4) The restoration of central business districts is the appropriate subject for remedial legislation.    (b) It is further determined and declared by the General Assembly that:  (1) Municipalities should be encouraged to create self-financing improvement districts and designated district management corporations to execute self-help programs to enhance local business climates; and  (2) Municipalities should be given the broadest possible discretion in establishing self-help programs consistent with local needs, goals, and objectives.
AR Code § 14-184-104 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-104. Definitions

 As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:   (1) “Acquire” means obtain property rights by gift, purchase, devise, bequest, eminent domain, lease, sublease, assignment of lease, or any combination or variant of these means;  (2) “Assessed value” means value as assessed for ad valorem property tax purposes;  (3) “Board” means the board of commissioners appointed;  (4) “District” means the central business improvement district created by ordinance of the municipality;  (5) “Governing body” means the city council, board of directors, commission, or other municipal body exercising general legislative power in the municipality;  (6) “Municipality” means any city having the population required by § 14-184-107;  (7) “Owner” means record owner in fee simple;  (8) “Plan or plan of improvement” means the general design plan, including any amendments to it that may be made from time to time of the proposed improvements in the district.
AR Code § 14-184-105 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-105. Construction

 (a) This subchapter shall be construed liberally.  (b) The enumeration of any object, purpose, power, manner, method, and thing shall not be deemed to exclude like or similar objects, purposes, powers, manners, methods, and things.
AR Code § 14-184-106 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-106. Other laws applicable

 Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, the provisions of Acts 1881, No. 84; Acts 1899, No. 183; and all other laws of the State of Arkansas pertaining to municipal improvement districts, in general, as they may be amended from time to time, shall be applicable to a central business improvement district and shall govern the procedures for the operation of a district's affairs including, without limitation:   (1) Giving of any notice;  (2) Appointment of assessors;  (3) Making and filing of assessments of benefits or reassessments of benefits;  (4) Annexation of additional territory to a district;  (5) Collection of assessments;  (6) Enforcement of delinquent assessments; and  (7) All other matters relating to the internal operation of a district.
AR Code § 14-184-107 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-107. Authority to create districts

 The governing body of any first-class or second-class municipality of the state is authorized to create, by ordinance, one (1) or more central business improvement districts in the manner and for the purposes provided in this subchapter.
AR Code § 14-184-108 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-108. Petition for organization — Notice and hearing

 (a)  (1)  (A) When persons claiming to be owners of two thirds (2/3) in assessed value, as shown by the last county assessment, of real property in the area proposed to comprise a central business improvement district, file with the city clerk a petition for the organization of a district for the purposes provided in this subchapter, it shall be the duty of the clerk to give notice that the petition will be heard at a meeting of the governing body named in the notice, which will be held more than fifteen (15) days after the filing of the petition.  (B) Notice shall be published once a week for two (2) weeks, the last insertion to be not less than seven (7) days before the date fixed for the hearing.    (2)  (A) The mayor, if he sees fit, may call a special meeting of the governing body for the purpose of hearing the petition.  (B) This called meeting shall be held not less than fifteen (15) days after the date of the call, and notice of the hearing shall be published for the time and in the manner stated in this subsection.    (3) The notice may be in the following form:    (b)  (1) This petition may limit the cost of the improvement either to a fixed sum or to a percentage of the assessed value of the real property in the district.  (2) The petition may also set forth the names of the persons whom the petitioners request be named as members of the board of commissioners of the district.      “All owners of real property within the following described territory (here describe the territory to be included in the District) in the City of , are hereby notified that a petition has been filed with the City Clerk of the City of purporting to be signed by a two-thirds (2/3) in assessed value of the owners of real property within the territory, which petition prays that a Central Business Improvement District be formed embracing territory for the purpose of (here describe purpose and nature of improvements in general terms), and that the cost thereof be assessed and charged upon the real property above described. All owners of real property within the territory are advised that said petition will be heard at the meeting of the City Council to be held at the hour of , m . on the day of , 19 , and that at the meeting the Council will determine whether those signing the petition constitute two-thirds (2/3) in value of the owners of real property; and at the meeting all owners of real property within the territory who desire will be heard upon the question. City Clerk”   Click to view form.
AR Code § 14-184-109 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-109. Rules governing petitions

 (a) After the filing of a petition for the creation of a central business improvement district, no petitioner shall be permitted to withdraw his name from it.  (b) No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void on account of formal or insubstantial defects.  (c) The governing body, at any time, may permit the petition to be amended to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory or in any other particular.  (d) Similar petitions for the organization of the same district may be filed and together shall be regarded as one petition with the original.  (e) All petitions filed prior to the hearing on the first petition filed shall be considered by the governing body in the same manner as if filed with the first petition placed on file.
AR Code § 14-184-110 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-110. Organizational expenses

 A central business improvement district organized under this subchapter is authorized to pay reasonable compensation to those persons who have done necessary or desirable preliminary work in the organization of it, including the fees of abstractors and title companies, engineers, architects, and attorneys.
AR Code § 14-184-111 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-111. Board of commissioners

 (a)  (1)  (A) In the ordinance creating a central business improvement district, the governing body shall appoint a minimum of five (5) persons who shall be owners of real property in the district or officers or stockholders of a corporation owning real property within the district as commissioners who shall compose a board of commissioners for the district.  (B) In cities operating under a commission form of government, the mayor and city commissioners, by virtue of their offices, may be commissioners of each district and may compose the board of each district.    (2)  (A) At the initial meeting of commissioners, the governing body of the municipality shall divide randomly the commissioners into three (3) groups roughly equal in number.  (B)  (i) The first group of commissioners shall serve a term of two (2) years.  (ii) The second group of commissioners shall serve a term of four (4) years.  (iii) The third group of commissioners shall serve a term of six (6) years.    (C) Following the initial group of commissioners, all commissioners shall serve a term of six (6) years.    (3) The board of commissioners shall elect a chair and a secretary.    (b)  (1)  (A)  (i) All vacancies that may occur after the board shall have been organized shall be filled by the governing body.  (ii) The vacating member shall serve, if possible, until a successor is appointed by the governing body of the municipality.    (B) If all places on the board shall become vacant or those appointed shall refuse or neglect to act or shall cease to have the qualifications required for their original appointment, new members shall be appointed by the governing body as in the first instance.    (2)  (A)  (i) The governing body shall have the power to remove the board or any member of it by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the whole number of the members of the governing body.  (ii) Removal shall be for cause only and after a hearing upon sworn charges preferred in writing by a property owner in the district. Ten (10) days' notice of the hearing on the charges shall be given.    (B) The governing body shall have the power to remove the board or any member of it by a vote of the majority of the whole number of the members elected to the governing body upon the written petition of the owners of a majority in assessed value of the property located within the district after a hearing upon ten (10) days' notice to each member of the board affected.      (c) The members of the board shall receive no compensation for their services but may be reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
AR Code § 14-184-112 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-112. Plans and estimated cost of improvement

 (a)  (1) As soon as is practicable after the qualification of its members, the board of commissioners for a central business improvement district shall form plans for the improvement as described in the petition and shall obtain estimates of the cost of it.  (2) Prior to the filing of any assessment of benefits to accomplish the plan of improvement, a copy of the plans and the estimated cost for the accomplishment of the plans shall be filed in the office of the city clerk.    (b) The plan may provide for the construction of improvements, and other implementation of the plan, in such sequence and in such parts as the board shall determine from time to time to be most advantageous to the district.  (c)  (1) The plan of improvement may be amended at any time by the board in order to include or delete such features as the board shall determine to be in the best interests of the district.  (2)  (A) A copy of the plan, as amended, shall be filed in the office of the city clerk, and, if the original assessment of benefits shall not have yet been filed, no further notice shall be necessary.  (B)  (i) If the assessment of benefits for the district shall have been filed and a levy of it enacted by ordinance, the board shall examine the amended plan and determine whether or not a reassessment of benefits shall be desirable.  (ii) If the board shall determine that a reassessment is desirable, the board shall direct that a reassessment be prepared and filed as in the case of any other reassessment. However, if the amended plan shall provide for the construction of additional improvements the costs of which are to be financed primarily from the issuance of bonds to be retired from the revenues from the additional improvements or from other sources, it shall not be necessary to reassess benefits.
AR Code § 14-184-113 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-113. Expenditures for services

 (a)  (1) In the preparation of the plan of improvement, a central business improvement district is authorized to employ architects and engineers to prepare plans, specifications, and estimates of cost for the construction of the improvements and to supervise and inspect the construction.  (2) In addition, the district is authorized to engage and pay attorneys, accountants, and consultants and to obtain and pay for such other professional and technical services as it shall determine to be necessary or desirable in assisting it to effectively carry out the functions, powers, and duties conferred and imposed upon it to accomplish and maintain the proposed improvement.  (3) The district is further authorized to employ, on a full-time basis, such persons as shall be necessary to maintain, operate, supervise, repair, administer, or otherwise render assistance in the effecting of the plan and its continued benefit.    (b) All expenditures under this section shall be taken as a cost of the improvement.
AR Code § 14-184-114 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-114. Abandonment of improvement

 (a)  (1) If for any cause the improvement shall not be made, the cost shall be a charge upon the real property in the central business improvement district and shall be raised and paid by an assessment upon the real property in the district as assessed for state and county purposes.  (2) The assessment shall be levied by the governing body on the application of any person interested and shall be paid to the district to be distributed among the creditors of the district.    (b) When any improvement is abandoned, it is made the duty of the board of commissioners to report to the governing body the total amount of the debts which it has incurred, to the end that the governing body may make adequate provision for their payment.
AR Code § 14-184-116 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-116. Power of eminent domain

 (a) The right and power of eminent domain is conferred upon a central business improvement district to enter upon, take, and condemn private property for the construction of improvements described in the plan of improvement.  (b) The right and power of eminent domain conferred by this section shall be exercised by the district in accordance with the procedures in §§ 18-15-301 — 18-15-307.  (c) The right and power conferred by this section shall include, without limitation, the right and power to enter upon lands and proceed with the work of construction prior to the assessment and the payment of damages and compensation upon the posting of a deposit by the district in accordance with the procedure described in §§ 18-15-301 — 18-15-303.
AR Code § 14-184-117 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-117. Powers of municipal governing bodies

 The governing body of any municipality shall have all powers necessary or desirable to undertake and carry out, or to assist a central business improvement district to undertake and carry out, all improvements described in the ordinance setting up the district including, but not limited to, the following:   (1)  (A) To close existing streets or alleys, or to open new streets and alleys, or to widen or narrow existing streets and alleys, in whole or in part.  (B) These closings shall be subject to franchise, permit, or other occupancy right of utilities for existing facilities, except as provided in subdivision (8) of this section;    (2)  (A) To condemn and take easements necessarily incident to the plan of improvement adopted for the district.  (B) Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, the rules and procedures set forth in §§ 18-15-301 — 18-15-307 shall govern all condemnation proceedings;    (3)  (A) To permit the district, on public property or rights-of-way, to install and operate, or to lease, public parking facilities, public music facilities, news facilities, and sidewalk cafe tables and chairs;  (B) To construct lakes, dams, and waterways of whatever size;  (C) To landscape and plant trees, bushes, shrubbery, flowers, and each and every other kind of decorative planting;  (D) To acquire air rights for the construction of pedestrian overpasses, vehicular overpasses, and public restaurants or facilities to be located in these spaces; and  (E) To permit the purchase and operation of buses, minibuses, mobile benches, and other modes of transportation;    (4) To provide special police facilities and the personnel for the protection and enjoyment of the property owners and the general public using the facilities of the district;  (5) To maintain, as provided in this subchapter, all government-owned streets, alleys, malls, bridges, ramps, tunnels, lawns, and decorative plantings of each and every nature, and every structure or object of any nature whatsoever constructed and operated by the municipality;  (6) To prohibit or restrict vehicular traffic on the streets within the district as may be deemed necessary and to provide the means for access by emergency vehicles to or in these areas;  (7) To remove any existing structures or signs of any description in the district not conforming to the plan of improvements; and  (8) Upon payment of reasonable compensation for it by the district, to require any or all utilities servicing the district to lay such pipe, extend such wires, provide such facilities, or conform, modify, or remove existing facilities to effectuate the plan of improvement for the district.
AR Code § 14-184-118 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 11 - Economic Development Improvement Districts, Facilities, And Authorities|Chapter 184 - Central Business Improvement Districts|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-184-118. Supplemental annual assessments

 (a)  (1) In order to effectuate the plan of improvement and to maintain the improvements constructed under it, it may be desirable to provide additional funds for operation, maintenance, repairs, and replacements, and to levy a supplemental annual assessment upon the property owners within a central business improvement district in order to provide funds for these purposes.  (2) Supplemental annual assessment for operation, maintenance, repairs, and replacements shall be in addition to that levied and collected upon the assessment of benefits which has been, or may be, pledged and mortgaged to retire bonded indebtedness of the district as authorized in this subchapter.    (b)  (1) The petition requesting the creation of the district and the ordinances creating the district and levying the tax on the assessment of benefits to provide for the retirement of bonded indebtedness may also provide for a continuing supplemental annual levy of an assessment which shall be designated for the purposes of operation, maintenance, repairs, and replacements of the improvements.  (2)  (A) If the petition requesting the creation of the district does not contain a provision requesting the levy of a supplemental annual assessment for operation, maintenance, repairs, and replacements, a majority in value of the owners of real property within the district at any time may petition the governing body for the adoption of an ordinance levying such supplemental assessment.  (B) If the petition is later filed, it shall be the duty of the governing body to adopt the requested ordinance upon inquiry only as to the sufficiency of the petition.      (c)  (1) The levy and collection of the supplemental annual assessment for operation, maintenance, repairs, and replacements shall not operate to reduce the total of the assessed benefits which may be, or may have been, mortgaged and pledged to secure bonded indebtedness of the district.  (2) Upon request of the board of commissioners, the annual supplemental assessment may be adjusted no more frequently than annually by the governing body.  (3)  (A) Collection of the supplemental assessment for operation, maintenance, repairs, and replacements shall be in the same manner as for the collection of assessment of benefits pledged to retire indebtedness of the district.  (B) The failure to pay the supplemental assessments shall be enforced by proceedings in the same manner as other delinquent assessments.