Constitution of Arkansas (2025 publisher edition) — Amendment 78: [CITY AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT REDEVELOPMENT]

Publisher edition notice: This collection preserves the complete constitutional appendix of the Secretary of State’s 2025 Election Laws and Constitution compilation: its preamble, twenty original articles, schedule and 104 published amendments, including annotations and explicit repealed notices. Repealed notices remain historical publisher context. Later amendments have not been independently verified.

Amendment 78

AMEND. 78. [CITY AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT REDEVELOPMENT]
Publisher’s Notes. This amendment was proposed by
H.J.R. 1012 during the 1999 Regular Session and adopted
at the November 2000 general election by a vote of 427,407
for and 355,943 against.
This amendment was designated as Amendment 78 by
the Secretary of State, and was known as Amendment No.
1 on the general election ballot for 2000: “The City and
County Government Redevelopment Bond and Short Term
Financing Amendment.” The bracketed heading was added
by the Publisher.
Effective Dates.
Ark. Const. Amend. 78, § 4: Jan. 1, 2001.
§ 1. Redevelopment Projects.
(a) Any city or county may form a redevelopment district for the purpose of financing one (1)
or more redevelopment projects within the district.
(b) A city or county which has formed a redevelopment district may issue bonds for the purpose
of financing capital improvements for redevelopment projects within the district. The bonds may
be secured by and be payable from all or a portion of the division of ad valorem taxes in the
district provided for in (d) below. The bonds shall not be considered in calculating debt limits for
bonds issued pursuant to Article XII, Section 4, of the Arkansas Constitution and shall not be
subject to the provisions of Article XVI, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution or Amendments
62 or 65 to the Arkansas Constitution.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term “redevelopment project” means an undertaking for
eliminating, or preventing the development or spread of, slums or blighted, deteriorated, or
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deteriorating areas, for discouraging the loss of commerce, industry, or employment, or for
increasing employment, or any combination thereof, as may be defined by the General Assembly.
(d) The General Assembly may provide that the ad valorem taxes levied by any taxing unit, in
which is located all or part of an area included in a redevelopment district, may be divided so that
all or part of the ad valorem taxes levied against any increase in the assessed value of property
in the area obtaining after the effective date of the ordinance approving the redevelopment plan
for the district shall be used to pay any indebtedness incurred for the redevelopment project;
provided, however, there shall be excluded from the division all ad valorem taxes for debt service
approved by voters in a taxing unit prior to the effective date of this amendment.
(e) After the effective date of an ordinance approving the redevelopment plan for the district,
no increase in the assessed value of property in a redevelopment district shall be taken into
account for purposes of calculating increases in the aggregate value of taxable real and personal
property in a taxing unit pursuant to Article XVI, Section 14 of the Arkansas Constitution.
(f) Any provision of the Constitution of the State of Arkansas in conflict with this section is
repealed insofar as it is in conflict with this amendment.
(g) The General Assembly shall provide for the implementation of this section by law.
§ 2. [Short-term financing obligations].
(a) For the purpose of acquiring, constructing, installing or renting real property or tangible
personal property having an expected useful life of more than one (1) year, municipalities and
counties may incur short-term financing obligations maturing over a period of, or having a term,
not to exceed five (5) years. Such obligations may bear interest. The aggregate principal amount
of short-term financing obligations incurred by a municipality or a county pursuant to this
section shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the assessed value of taxable property located within
the municipality or two and one half percent (2.5%) of the assessed value of taxable property
located within the county, as determined by the last tax assessment completed before the last
obligation was incurred by the city or county. The total annual principal and interest payments
in each fiscal year on all outstanding obligations of a municipality or a county pursuant to this
section shall be charged against and paid from the general revenues for such fiscal year, which
may include road fund revenues. Tax revenues earmarked for solid waste disposal purposes may
be used to pay printing and other costs associated with bonds issued under this amendment for
solid waste disposal purposes.
(b) As used here:
(1) “Short-term financing obligation” means a debt, a note, an installment purchase agree-
ment, a lease, a lease-purchase contract, or any other similar agreement, whether secured or
unsecured; provided, that the obligation shall mature over a period of, or have a term, not to
exceed five (5) years.
(2) Repealed.
(c) The provisions of this section shall be self-executing. [As amended by Const. Amend. 89, §
14.]
Publisher’s Notes. The bracketed heading was added
by the Publisher.
Ark. Const. Amend. 89, § 14 amended this section effec-
tive January 1, 2011. Amendment 89 was proposed by
H.J.R. 1004 during the 2009 Regular Session and adopted
at the 2010 general election by a vote of 448,711 for and
250,167 against.
Before amendment, this section read:
“(a) For the purpose of acquiring, constructing, install-
ing or renting real property or tangible personal property
having an expected useful life of more than one (1) year,
municipalities and counties may incur short-term financ-
ing obligations maturing over a period of, or having a term,
not to exceed five (5) years. Such obligations may bear
interest at either:
“(1) a fixed rate throughout the term thereof, including a
fixed interest rate which is to be determined by reference to
an index or other formula, but not to exceed the maximum
lawful rate of interest for fixed rate obligations, or
“(2) a rate which may vary at such times and under such
circumstances as the parties may agree, whether or not the
interest rate in fact varies, but not to exceed the maximum
lawful rate of interest for variable rate obligations. The
maximum lawful rate of interest for fixed rate obligations
is the formula rate in effect on the date the obligation is
incurred, regardless of when such interest is to begin to
accrue. The maximum lawful rate of interest for variable
rate obligations is the formula rate in effect on the date
such interest accrues. The aggregate principal amount of
short-term financing obligations incurred by a municipal-
ity or a county pursuant to this section shall not exceed five
percent (5%) of the assessed value of taxable property
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located within the municipality or two and one half percent
(2.5%) of the assessed value of taxable property located
within the county, as determined by the last tax assess-
ment completed before the last obligation was incurred by
the city or county. The total annual principal and interest
payments in each fiscal year on all outstanding obligations
of a municipality or a county pursuant to this section shall
be charged against and paid from the general revenues for
such fiscal year, which may include road fund revenues.
Tax revenues earmarked for solid waste disposal purposes
may be used to pay printing and other costs associated
with bonds issued under this amendment for solid waste
disposal purposes.
“(b) As used here:
“(1) ‘Short-term financing obligation’ means a debt, a
note, an installment purchase agreement, a lease, a lease-
purchase contract, or any other similar agreement,
whether secured or unsecured; provided, that the obliga-
tion shall mature over a period of, or have a term, not to
exceed five (5) years;
“(2) ‘Formula rate’ means that rate of interest which is
five percentage points (5%) above the equivalent bond yield
of one year United States Treasury Bills offered by the
United States Treasury at the last auction during the
immediately preceding calendar quarter, calculated by
rounding up to the nearest one-fourth of one percentage
point (0.25%) (unless the equivalent bond yield is already
by a multiple of one-fourth of one percentage point), and
announced by the State Bank Commissioner (or such
successor official who may be performing substantially the
same duties) from information available from the Federal
Reserve System of the United States. The calculation of the
formula rate shall be made on or before the tenth (10th)
day of each calendar quarter. The formula rate so calcu-
lated shall be effective on the eleventh (11th) day of the
calendar quarter and shall continue in effect until the
formula rate for the succeeding calendar quarter shall
have been calculated and becomes effective. If, for any
reason, the United States ceases to issue one year Treasury
Bills, such calculation shall be made using a debt instru-
ment of the United States having substantially the same
general character and maturity. The calculation and an-
nouncement of the formula rate by the State Bank Com-
missioner shall be final.
“(c) The provisions of this section shall be
self-executing.”
§ 3. [Scope of authority to incur debt].
The authority conferred by this amendment shall be in addition to the authority of munici-
palities and counties to issue bonds and other debt obligations pursuant to Amendments 62, 65,
and 72, and other provisions of the Constitution and laws of the state.
Publisher’s Notes. The bracketed heading was added
by the Publisher.