In accordance with Ark.Code Ann. § 6-20-2305 (a)(4) as amended by Act 272 of 2007, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) shall distribute or recoup net revenues that are more or less than the 98% of the uniform rate of tax (URT) 25 mills. Also, Ark. Code Ann. § 26-26-2002 (as amended by Act 27 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2006), allows the Assessment Coordination Department (ACD) to adopt and implement by rule, a uniform statewide set of instructions for reporting county property tax collection information.
A standard template was designed by ACD to summarize the data contained in the final tax settlement. The ADE is now requesting all school districts to determine if the data submitted by the counties agrees with district records. If the district records do not agree, we request that districts meet with their county officials, review the template which can be found at http://www.arkansas.gov/acd/publications.html and reach a final agreement that the amount reflected as Total Actual Disbursements by County (column 4 of the attachment) is accurate and agrees with school district records.
The two worksheets that are attached to this memo are for the 2007 Taxes Collectable in 2008 and summarize the data submission by the Preparer of the Tax Book for each county. The Total Disbursements by County are reflected on the ACD template as Net Taxes Collected Including Delinquent Collections Post-Proration Taxes Collected. Fringe county collections for each school district are combined into the school district totals on the worksheet and are reflected on the attachment “Total Disbursement By School District – County Totals.”
Also calculated is the over/under receipt of the 98% of the URT. A comparison of the Total Actual Disbursements by County (column 4 of attachment) to the ADE URT Formula @ 98% (column 8 of attachment) determines if a school district has received more or less than the 98% of the URT. Those districts that will be required to reimburse ADE for over collections of the 98% are highlighted in green. Payment of all over collections will be due to the ADE by June 19, 2009.
If it is found the data in the original submission was incorrect, the district should request the county officials contact Amy Gilbert at ACD (501-324-9121) and submit a revised template with the correct information. Questions concerning the template data should also be submitted to Amy. Other questions may be submitted to John Kunkel at John.Kunkel@arkansas.gov or you may call 501-682-4476.
The deadline for all corrections will be April 24, 2009.