Yesterday’s Arkansas Supreme Court decisions included filing of a motion in a pending appeal in which Washington County officials and the Fayetteville School District are appealing a lower court decision that held that all University of Arkansas property, regardless of use, is exempt from the property tax.
The local governments contend that the Arkansas Constitution exempts public property from the tax only when it is strictly used for public purposes.
This is a big case in Fayetteville, but also statewide, because it has implications for all colleges and all governments that own properties not used strictly, or even at all, for public purposes.
The Fayetteville School District’s brief in the case is already on file and it lays out the case and arguments.
Noted: The docket report in the case this morning shows that the appeal was filed April 23. The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees is the named UA party in the case. The docket as yet shows no recusal for Justice Courtney Goodson, whose husband John Goodson is a member of the UA Board of Trustees. Presumably she will.
