More than 300 people were at the Berryville Community Center Monday night to voice their concerns about a fee added to property taxes. State Sen. Bryan King called the meeting and invited Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney and Phil Jackson, director of the Carroll County Solid Waste Authority. Both have served on the board of the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District (OMSWD).
Tax notices mailed out in the past month included an $18 fee to pay off bonds securing the purchase of a landfill that served a six-county area. The Nabors landfill in Baxter County closed in 2012, and representatives serving on the six-county board voted to enter bankruptcy.
Although the bonds were not backed by tax revenue, the judge cited an Arkansas law concerning bonds issued to fund public projects. His order called for adding the fee to every commercial or residential property every year until the bonds are fully repaid. Estimates of that time period range from 25 to 35 years.
Before yielding the floor to Jackson and McKinney, King offered some perspective from Little Rock. “The legislature is one hundred percent involved in making this the problem it is now,” he said. He later returned to that point, promising, “It’s going to get a lot more interesting when you hear the legislative role in this.”
King will convene another public meeting on that topic, and promised to document the legislative history affecting this. “The legislature looked out for the bondholders, but not me,” he said, “I tried to do everything I could.”
Jackson took the audience back to purchase of the landfill in 2005. The six-county area had no other landfill. After the $12.5 million purchase, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality changed its regulations, and said a cell at the landfill had been overfilled and would not be able to open a new cell until the problem was corrected. Over the next few years, the OMSWD spent $1,000,000 developing four different correction plans, and the ADEQ rejected all four.
McKinney elaborated on that point, and said, “The rule changes by ADEQ made it impossible to operate.”
Jackson also described “significant mismanagement” by the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District. The OMSWD revoked the NWAEDD’s role in managing the facility. Tipping fees had risen by 60 percent. Carroll County already faced heavy transportation costs, with a round trip of 180 miles. By 2009, the county began using a landfill in Oklahoma.
Although he acknowledged the law under which the judge ruled, Jackson said, “I don’t see how people can be charged a fee for something not voted on by their city councils or quorum courts.”
McKinney also addressed that. “I talked to bond companies at the time that didn’t want to touch it,” he said. “In my opinion, these were junk bonds.”
McKinney closed his remarks by thanking King for the opportunity to address “a lot of misinformation and a lot of rumor.” He also encouraged everyone attending to look up the legislative audit of the NWAEDD.
About a dozen people came to the microphone to ask questions, and organizers apologized for having to close the meeting after two hours, with several others still in line. Most of those who spoke expressed frustration, and objections to “taxation without representation” met with widespread applause.