Taxes Fayetteville schools sue over TIF tax grab

The Fayetteville School            lot.
District has sued Washington       The bad news is that
County officials to stop them      Fayetteville schools still
from raking a portion of a         pay a penalty for one of the
new school millage into the        few tax increment finance
black hole of dowtown              districts established in the
Fayetteville's failed tax          state. The good news is that,
increment finance district.        thanks to the Arkansas
Copy of lawsuit here.              Constitution's protection of
The school district says the       education, poor drafting of
law, though it allows capture      the TIF law and the failure
of some school millage for         of greedy developers to
redevelopment schemes in tax       realize that Arkansas was not
increment finance districts,       an appropriate or fertile
does not allow the taking of       ground for this type of
any millage pledged to bonds,      financing, it hasn't been
as it contends county              much used. Though goodness
officials are doing in this        knows several have tried.
case. The new millage was          (Will North Little Rock Mayor
passed to finance a new high       Pat Hays ever let go of the
school. If the money is            illegal midnight TIF district
diverted to the big downtown       he gerrymandered in downtown
TIF district in Fayetteville,      to grab taxes on a new
it will cost the schools $25,      apartment complex for his
000 a year. So far, the TIF        Argenta scheming? A lawsuit
district has built a parking       pends that he can't win.)     

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