The City of Pine Bluff's delinquent property tax bill for Harbor Oaks Golf Course was wiped clean by Jefferson County officials Friday, ending a long-held point of contention between the entities.
The action came after a proposed resolution was released Thursday, ahead of the City Council's meeting Tuesday, that would allow the city attorney to file a lawsuit against the county demanding relief from the tax claim and to bar any future assessment on the property.
Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington said Friday she was happy the tax books had been cleared.
"This is something that's been going on for a while," Washington said. "I had met with our legal team and I believed our only option was to move forward legally."
The resolution as well as a budget adjustment request for $45,974.51 to file the suit were removed Friday from the agenda for the City Council's next meeting.
"Initially, we spoke to the collector and they basically said there wasn't anything they could do about it," City Attorney Althea Hadden-Scott said. "We're just excited about the outcome and not to have to use the $45,000."
The city's delinquent tax bill on the property for 2014 and 2015 was $40,791.74 plus penalties and fees, according to Jefferson County Appraisal Manager Stacy Howard.
County officials had threatened to refer the property to the Arkansas Land Commissioner for collection, which could have resulted in the property being put up for public auction.
But Hadden-Scott said the property never should have been assessed and taxed in the first place because a 2001 court judgment exempted it.
The Harbor Oaks property was transferred to the city in the mid-1990s and was "just land" at the time, Hadden-Scott said.
It was leased to longtime land developer Donny Thomas, who turned it into what is now a golf course featuring 18 holes with four sets of tee markers and a popular restaurant. The par-72 course is on the Natural State Golf Trail and is listed as one of the top 10 courses in the state. The course and restaurant were sold in July to Mike and Jamie Wilson.
The city brought a lawsuit against Thomas in 2000 for payment of taxes for 1997, 1998 and 1999. Thomas argued that the property, which is owned by the city, was exempt from taxes. The city paid the taxes "under protest" then sued Thomas for restitution.
In 2001, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Wyatt Jr. ordered that the Harbor Oaks property is "beyond any doubt" public property and used exclusively for public purposes -- two factors that must be met to declare a property exempt from taxation.
In 2013, the county began assessing taxes to the city for the Harbor Oaks property.
"We've been going around and around about it," Hadden-Scott said.
Howard said in an interview Friday that when the county reappraised the property in 2013, the only thing in the file about the taxes was a notification to return the payments for 1997, 1998 and 1999 to the city.
"We got to investigating as to why this property was exempt," Howard said. "That assessor was gone by then and we didn't know the history."
Howard and other county officials had meetings at the time with former Mayor Debe Hollingsworth and her assistant trying to find out why the property should be exempt. A copy of the original lease agreement with Thomas said that if taxes were due, the lessee would be responsible for the bill.
"We put it on the books and the taxes went delinquent," Howard said. "We were never in the loop."
Howard said the issue was resolved Thursday after talking to Hadden-Scott, who sent her copies of the 2001 court judgment.
"After reading the whole document, it was clear we didn't have a case to leave it on the books," Howard said. "It was a big confusion. It was not a battle I thought the county could win."
State Desk on 02/20/2017