AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - ASSESSMENT COORDINATION DIVISION APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR.
SB2 is the fiscal year 2026-2027 appropriation act for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s Assessment Coordination Division. It authorizes funding for the division’s regular operations, extra help, the County Assessors’ continuing education program, and the state’s real property reappraisal program. The bill also sets the division’s authorized staffing levels, including 33 maximum employees, and provides line-item appropriations for salaries, operating expenses, travel, professional fees, assessor training, and assessment incentives.
A major component of the bill is the funding structure for real property reappraisal. It authorizes up to $15.75 million for reappraisal costs and includes special language directing monthly fund transfers to the Arkansas Real Property Reappraisal Fund from the Department of Education Public School Fund Account, the County Aid Fund, and the Municipal Aid Fund, subject to a $14.25 million annual cap. The bill also allows up to $1.5 million in transfers from the Miscellaneous Agencies Fund Account to support reappraisal activities and permits transfers within the division’s appropriation to ensure sufficient funding for assessor training.
The bill’s impact on state law is primarily budgetary and administrative rather than substantive regulatory change. It establishes appropriations and temporary special language governing how funds may be moved and spent during the 2026-2027 fiscal year, while requiring compliance with existing procurement, accounting, salary, and revenue stabilization laws. Because it is an appropriation act with an emergency clause, it takes effect on July 1, 2026 and is designed to keep the Assessment Coordination Division operating without interruption.
The general sentiment around SB2 appears routine and supportive, consistent with a Joint Budget Committee measure that was enacted and became Act 74. There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials indicating significant opposition or debate. The bill appears to have been treated as a standard annual budget measure necessary for agency operations and county property assessment functions.
No specific points of contention are documented in the available record, but the most likely policy sensitivities involve the size and source of the reappraisal funding transfers, especially the use of education, county aid, and municipal aid funds to support property reappraisal. Another possible area of interest is the allocation for assessor education and the authority to shift funds between operating expenses and training to maintain required personnel training.
SB2 appropriates state funds for the Department of Finance and Administration’s Assessment Coordination Division for fiscal year 2026-2027, including salaries, operations, assessor education, and real property reappraisal payments. It temporarily authorizes fund transfers from specified state accounts into the Arkansas Real Property Reappraisal Fund and allows internal appropriation transfers to support assessor training. The bill does not permanently amend the Arkansas Code, but it controls how these funds may be spent and transferred during the fiscal year.
The available record suggests broad, routine support for SB2 as a standard appropriation bill. It was enacted as Act 74, and there are no recorded votes or committee transcripts showing controversy or divided opinion. The bill appears to have been viewed as necessary for the continued operation of the Assessment Coordination Division and the state’s property assessment and reappraisal system.
No explicit contention is documented in the provided materials. The most plausible areas of concern are the funding mechanism for real property reappraisal, particularly the transfer of money from the Department of Education Public School Fund Account, County Aid Fund, and Municipal Aid Fund, and the cap on those transfers. Stakeholders most likely to scrutinize those provisions would be school funding interests, county and municipal governments, and property assessment officials, though the record provided does not show formal opposition.