Opinion ID: 1769368
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exclusion from District

Text: Ormond first claims that the circuit court erred in ruling that its petition to exclude its property from the District was untimely. In making this argument, Ormond presents a challenge to the circuit court's construction of the relevant statutes, which this court reviews de novo. See, e.g., Williams v. Wayne Farms, LLC, 368 Ark. 93, 243 S.W.3d 316 (2006). This court is not bound by the trial court's determination of a statute's meaning, as it is for the appellate court to determine what a statute means. See id. In the absence of a showing that the circuit court erred, however, its interpretation of the statute will be accepted as correct on appeal. See id. The pertinent statute regarding exclusion of land from an improvement district is § 14-117-208. That statute provides: (a)(1) The holder or holders of title representing in assessed value one-half (1/2) or more of any body of lands benefited or capable of being benefited by the works of a district may petition the chancery or circuit court which established the district to change the boundaries of the district to include that body of lands. (2) Any owner of lands within the boundaries of a district may also petition the court to change the boundaries of the district to exclude such lands. (b) The petition shall describe the boundaries of the parcel or tract of land owned by the petitioner or petitioners. (c) The clerk shall give notice by publication for two (2) weeks in some newspaper published and having a general circulation in the county or counties within the district, calling upon all persons owning property within the district and, in the case of a proposed inclusion of lands, all persons owning property within the area proposed to be included to appear before the court on some day to be fixed by the court to show cause in favor of or against the inclusion or exclusion of lands of petitioners. (d) If the court deems it to be to the best interest of the district that the lands be included or excluded from the district, it shall make an appropriate order upon its records changing the boundaries of the district. (e) If the court finds that lands should be included in the district, the court shall make a finding and order as to an equitable amount to be paid by the petitioner or petitioners in lieu of the amount the petitioners or their grantors would have been required to pay to the district as assessments had the lands been included in the district at the time the district was originally formed. These amounts shall be divided into installments as the court may determine and shall be added to and be collected with any assessments subsequently levied against the assessment of benefits and shall be a part of the assessment of benefits. (f) If the court finds that lands should be excluded from the district, the court shall make a finding and order as to the amount, if any, which shall be refunded by the district to any and all persons who have paid any assessment or assessments to the district. (g) In making this determination, the court shall consider whether the parties have realized benefits from the organization and operation of the district, and the value of those benefits as determined by the court shall be deducted from the assessments paid in by the parties. (h) No land excluded from the district shall be released from any obligation to pay any valid outstanding indebtedness of the district at the time of filing the petition for exclusion unless the holders of the indebtedness shall assent to the release of the lands from such obligation. (i) All costs of the proceedings shall be assessed against the petitioners. (j) Appeals from judgments of the court made pursuant to this section shall be taken by an aggrieved party in accordance with the provisions of § 14-117-207. Ark.Code Ann. § 14-117-208 (Repl.1998). Section 14-117-207 is also relevant to this appeal. It provides: (a) The order of the chancery or circuit court establishing the district shall have all the force of a judgment. (b) Any owner of real property within the district may appeal from the judgment within thirty (30) days after the judgment has been made, but if no appeal is taken within that time, the judgment shall be deemed conclusive and binding upon all the real property within the bounds of the district, and upon the owners thereof. (c) Any owner of property in the proposed district may within a like time appeal from any order refusing to establish the district. Ark.Code Ann. § 14-117-207 (Repl.1998). Ormond specifically asserts that there is no statutory time limit during which a petition to exclude land from the District must be filed. Accordng to Ormond, § 14-117-208(a)(2) merely says, [a]ny owner of lands within the boundaries of a district may also petition the court to change the boundaries of the district to exclude such lands. The District concedes that § 14-117-208 does not provide a time limit for filing a petition to exclude lands in an improvement district but states that the circuit court, nevertheless, properly held that, after a bond indebtedness is in place, it is too late to file an exclusion petition under that section of the Improvement District Code. As Ormond notes, the language included in § 14-117-208 contemplates that a district has already been established; thus, the statute does not apply to a proposed district. Further, § 14-117-208(f) provides, [i]f the court finds that lands should be excluded from the district, the court shall make a finding and order as to the amount, if any, which shall be refunded by the district to any and all persons who have paid any assessment or assessments to the district. Ormond contends that an owner cannot pay assessments until after the district has been established, benefits have been assessed, and those assessments have been charged. All of this, Ormond observes, cannot take place within the thirty days immediately following the court order establishing the district. Ormond concludes, accordingly, that the thirty-day time limit in § 14-117-207, which relates to appeals from orders establishing the district, does not apply to his petition for exclusion. Ormond's argument has merit. There is no doubt that the circuit court relied on § 14-117-207 for its determination that Ormond should have appealed within thirty days from the entry of the order creating the District. The District, however, was created on October 11, 1993  almost twelve years earlier. It is true that assessments for land in the District were modified on November 12, 2003, and certain lands were excluded. It is unclear whether the circuit court considered the modification of the District on this date to be the order creating the District to which the court alludes. Nevertheless, to the extent the circuit court based its untimeliness decision on a failure to appeal within thirty days from the establishment of the District, that was error. [2] We reverse the circuit court on this point. We also agree with Ormond that § 14-117-208 has no time limit for filing a petition to exclude land from an improvement district. As already noted, the District concedes this fact. Moreover, Ormond is correct that the statutory scheme for the establishment and operation of an improvement district under § 14-117-208(h) permits lands to be excluded from the district even when a bond indebtedness is in place, although for lands to be released from the existing bond indebtedness, the bondholders must agree. Ormond, however, goes further in its petition and prays that it be released from future bond indebtedness. Being saddled with any new debt appears to be Ormond's primary concern. It is beyond our jurisdiction to address at this juncture such a speculative matter that may occur in the future. To do so would be to issue an advisory opinion, which we decline to do. See, e.g., Dodson v. Allstate Ins. Co., 365 Ark. 458, 462, 231 S.W.3d 711, 715 (2006) (noting that [w]e have long held that courts do not sit for the purpose of determining speculative and abstract questions of law or laying down rules for future conduct).