§ 8-6-211 - Municipal solid waste management systems. - Arkansas Statutes

8-6-211. Municipal solid waste management systems.

(a) All municipalities shall provide a solid waste management system which will adequately provide for the collection and disposal of all solid wastes generated or existing within the incorporated limits of the municipality or in the area to be served and in accordance with the rules, regulations, and orders of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. The governing body of the municipality may enter into agreements with one (1) or more other municipalities, counties, a regional solid waste management district, private persons or trusts, or with any combination thereof, to provide a solid waste management system, or any part of a system, for the municipality, but the agreement shall not relieve the parties of their responsibilities under this subchapter.

(b) (1) The governing body of the municipality shall have the authority to levy and collect such fees and charges and require such licenses as may be appropriate to discharge its responsibility under this subchapter, and the fees, charges, and licenses shall be based on a fee schedule as set forth in an ordinance.

(2) (A) Without limitation on otherwise appropriate collection procedures, a municipality may collect its fees and service charges through either its own system of periodic billing or by entering the fees and service charges on the tax records of the county and then collecting the fees and service charges with the personal property taxes on an annual basis.

(B) Further, any fees and service charges billed periodically by the cities which are more than ninety (90) days delinquent on November 1 of each year may be entered on the tax records of the county as a delinquent periodic fee or service charge and may be collected by the county with personal property taxes.

(3) (A) (i) In counties where the fees are entered on the tax records for yearly collection or if the periodic fees and service charges are more than ninety (90) days delinquent as of November 1, the fees and service charges shall be entered on the tax records of the county by the county clerk and shall be collected by the county collector with the personal property taxes.

(ii) The fees and service charges to be collected shall be certified to the county clerk by December 1 each year by an appropriate municipal official or the mayor.

(iii) No county collector of taxes shall accept payment of any property taxes where annual fees and service charges or delinquent periodic fees and service charges appear on the county tax records of a taxpayer unless the fees and service charges due are also receipted.

(iv) These funds shall be receipted and deposited into an official account of the county collector, who shall settle the account at least quarterly.

(B) Annual fees and service charges or the delinquent periodic fees and service charges which remain unpaid after the time other property taxes are due shall constitute a lien on the real and personal property of the taxpayer which may be enforced against such property by an action in circuit court.

(C) The amount of any fees and service charges collected shall then be paid to the municipality by the collector, less four percent (4%) to be retained by the collector.

(D) In addition, where the collector maintains a separate tax book for these fees and charges, the collector may charge an additional two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) for collection.

(c) Municipalities may accept and disburse funds derived from grants from the federal or state governments, from private sources, or from moneys that may be appropriated from any available funds for the installation and operation of a solid waste management system or any part of a system.

(d) Municipalities are authorized to contract for the purchase of land, facilities, vehicles, and machinery necessary to the installation and operation of a solid waste management system either individually or as a party to a regional or county solid waste authority.

(e) The governing body of a municipality shall have the right to establish policies for and enact laws concerning all phases of the operation of a solid waste management system, including hours of operation, the character and kinds of wastes accepted at the disposal site, the separation of wastes according to type by those generating them prior to collection, the type of container for storage of wastes, the prohibition of the diverting of recyclable materials by persons other than the generator or collector of the recyclable material, the prohibition of burning of wastes, the pretreatment of wastes, and such other rules as may be necessary or appropriate, so long as the laws, policies, and rules are consistent with, in accordance with, and not more restrictive than those adopted by, under, or pursuant to this subchapter or any laws, rules, regulations, or orders adopted by state law or incorporated by reference from federal law, the commission, or the regional solid waste management boards or districts, unless:

(1) There exists a fully implemented comprehensive area-wide zoning plan and corresponding laws or ordinances covering the entire municipality; or

(2) The municipality has made a request to the regional solid waste management board or district to adopt a more restrictive rule, regulation, order, or standard and no public hearing has been held within sixty (60) days or the request has not been acted upon within ninety (90) days.