Extortion in Arkansas! Tax Increase – Trash Tax for 6 Counties in Northern Ark.
Residents and businesses in Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton, and Searcy Counties, be prepared to see an added TRASH TAX on YOUR property tax statement! Bypassing the people’s informed consent, the whopping amount to be paid back is around $15 to $20 MILLION! Thanks to the bankrupt NABORS Landfill in Baxter County, basically YOU are on the hook to pay a fee for a debt which you didn’t incur, over which you had NO say… for a landfill that is no longer usable and is now CLOSED! This is just like the bank bailout the U.S. government was involved in a decade ago.
In our opinion, THIS IS EXTORTION! – which means a practice of something by force or threat! This is a house of cards that needs to fall! Government corruption constantly plagues the public.
An excerpt from the Baxter Bulletin from April 26, 2017:
Twin Lakes Area residents and businesses will begin paying a yearly $18 service fee next year to cover $13.2 million in bonds issued by the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District.
This $18 fee will be added to each resident and business parcel in the six county area within the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District until Bank of the Ozarks as the Trustee for the bondholders is paid off. Then the fee will be reduced to $2 per year. (Our opinion is that the real creditor is Cede & Company. Hold on, we will expound on this private entity in this article!)
Recent Court Document: Here’s the court order signed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox on April 21, 2017 that allowed the 6 counties to have this unscrupulous trash tax added to their personal property tax statements starting January 1, 2018. The court order includes a three page amendment at the end of the document, pages 8-10 which states:
Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 8-6-714(d) and other applicable law, the Receiver, acting on behalf of the District, shall cause an annual service fee of $18.00 (the “Service Fee”) to be assessed against each residence and business parcel located within the District.
For clarification, such parcels shall include all improved parcels within the District having the following ACD parcel types:
RB – Residential Building
CB – Commercial Business
CI – Commercial Improved
RI – Residential Improved
MH – Mobile Home
AI – Agricultural Improved
AB – Agricultural Building
The Service Fee shall commence in 2018 and continue until such time as the claims of the Trustee and ADEQ have been paid in full, all as more particularly described in the Report and Recommendations.
Now, this may not sound like a lot of money, but it opens up a HUGE can of worms! Keep reading…
The service fee was proposed last year by the solid waste district’s court-appointed receiver, which is trying to recover $13.2 million after the district defaulted on bonds used to purchase the now-closed NABORS landfill in northwestern Baxter County.
How can they call it a “service fee”? And just exactly what service are you receiving in exchange for this fee? The landfill is CLOSED! And we’re talking MILLIONS of dollars!
See this additional snippet from the Baxter Bulletin:
The service fee will be billed on the yearly property tax bill of residents and business owners in the district. Judge Fox’s ruling specifically states that owners of multi-unit residential properties will be charged a service fee for each unit on the property.
There are 18 Solid Waste Districts in the state, so residents and businesses in those areas need to WAKE UP and not fall prey to this practice!
Who got you into this mess, anyway? After checking deeper into the history and details, it looks like a money laundering scheme to fleece the taxpayer!
Read on, dear friends, to follow intrigue and the path of corruption. In other words, follow the money! Secure Arkansas has been very busy lately investigating and trying to follow every lead that we could find regarding the boondoggled NABORS Landfill. (NABORS is an acronym for North Arkansas Board of Regional Sanitation.) Be sure to click on ALL of the links provided in this revealing article so you will have the documents available to you when you need them. It will be a lot of pages to print, if you want to read them that way.
Secure Arkansas will follow-up with a Part 2 article because it will take more time to look into this ring of deception! Our elected officials and the administrators of the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District have gotten the residents and businesses into a BIG mess… but is it JUST them who are involved?
You should have several questions, and some of them will be addressed in this alert… and Secure Arkansas is still awaiting answers on some. An informed and concerned public ought to know:
- Why are the taxpayers being held responsible for bailing out the bondholders?
- Who are these bondholders?
- Who originally marketed these bonds?
- Why isn’t the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) going after the administrators responsible for the operation of Ozark Mountain Solid Waste Management District? (A criminal investigation must be implemented. This might be the time that the FBI should be called.)
- Why should the taxpayers have to pay, since they weren’t responsible for the bond default?
- Why did NABORS Landfill fail, and why did Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District file for bankruptcy?
- Why aren’t the names and contact information for the current Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District Board of Directors available? (According to ADEQ, Judge Mickey Pendergrass is chairman of the board now.)
- Who ultimately benefitted (or is benefitting) from all of this?
Buckle up! Here’s a little more history, dear reader. We will begin by addressing the bankruptcy court case details for Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District.
Court Case Bankruptcy Details: We were able to locate, in the United States Courts Archive, the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District case details which show that there were 59 docket items filed in the “Western District of Arkansas – Bankruptcy” court.
From the 59 docket items listed above, we were only able to access a few documents online without having to pay a fee, and the one linked directly below is known as Docket Item 33 (hmmm?). It was filed in April 2014 to authorize an auction for Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District: The title of this motion is MOTION FOR AND NOTICE OF SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY FREE AND CLEAR OF LIENS.
Here is an additional court case file which designated and assigned the Honorable Ben T. Barry as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in this matter: DESIGNATION OF UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE TO CONDUCT CHAPTER 9 CASE WITHIN THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT entered 1/17/2014.
We were also able to locate the ORDER APPROVING NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF CHAPTER 9 CASE filed 3/5/2014.
Continuing on in the bankruptcy case, here is the ORDER SUSTAINING OBJECTION
TO FILING OF CHAPTER 9 PETITION AND DISMISSING CASE filed 8/5/2014.
ATTENTION, EVERYONE! Once districts are created by the Arkansas legislature (or by any other means), the districts then have complete authority! The case mentioned above refers specifically to Regional Solid Waste Management Districts, but there are other types of districts.
The courts, along with Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), appear to be conspiring to expand the REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH that is already negatively affecting the state. In other words, taking trash tax money from the people and giving it to a private bank (Cede & Co.). Stay tuned – we will clarify this in our article.
Decisions like these are moving our cities, counties, state, and nation towards globalism!
Remember to follow the money — it will lead you to the crooks!
*Attention, researchers! This document deals with the bonds that were marketed! According to this vital Official Bond Marketing Document dated October 12, 2005 for the Series 2005A and Series 2005 Bonds:
“Principal of and interest on the Bonds will be paid by Bank of the Ozarks, Little Rock, Arkansas, as the trustee (the “Trustee”) directly to Cede & Co., nominee of DTC, as registered owner thereof.”
So, how much money are we talking about here?
October 1, 2005 $9,800,000 Bonds Issued for Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District. Purpose Refunding and Construction Revenue Bonds Series 2005A
November 1, 2005 $2,540,000 Bonds Issued for Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District. Purpose Refunding and Construction Revenue Bonds Series 2005B
(Secure Arkansas’ note: The solid waste district name was changed in February 2011 from “Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District” to “Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District”. See page 27 of this ADEQ pdf document for proof of the name change.)
Both of the above bonds were issued in denominations (increments) of $5,000 and they total more than $12 MILLION.
Information gathered from the Official Bond Marketing Document: Principal and interest of the bonds will be paid by Bank of the Ozarks, Little Rock, Arkansas directly to Cede & Company, nominee of Depository Trust Company, New York New York, as registered owner thereof. The proceeds of the Series 2005A bonds will be used refund a portion of an outstanding load made by First Security Bank, Searcy, Arkansas (the loan) allocated to the acquisition of a landfill, hauling and related facilities, fund new construction at the landfill, partially fund a debt service reserve fund, and pay the costs of issuance of the Series 2005A Bonds. Proceeds of the Series 2005B Bonds will be use to refund a portion of the loan allocated to financial assurance for closure care of the landfill and the funding of capitalized interest and working capital, provide a portion of financial assurance for post closure care of the landfill, provide the District with additional working capital, partially fund a dept service reserve fund and pay the costs of issuance of the Series 2005B Bonds.
IMPORTANT INFO: The Official Bond Marketing Document above also shows how the bonds were originally marketed. Here’s a direct quote from the 2005A & 2005B bond offer statement:
THE BONDS ARE NOT AND SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO CONSTITUTE A DEBT OR LIBILITY OR A PLEDGE OF THE FAITH AND CREDIT OF THE DISTRICT, THE STATE OF ARKANSAS OR ANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION THEREOF BUT SHALL BE PAYABLE SOLEY FROM PLEDGED REVENUES UNDER THE TRUST INDETURE. NEITHER THE FAITH AND CREDIT NOR THE TAXNG POWER OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS OR OF ANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION THEREOF IS PLEDGED TO THE
PAYMENT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF OR INTEREST ON THE BONDS. THE DISTRICT HAS NO TAXING POWER.
We agree that the District (Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District) SHOULD have no taxing power! Then why are ADEQ and the courts attempting to assess residents and businesses in those counties an $18 yearly fee through their county government?
After we found and researched the Official Bond Marketing Document (linked above), we ran into some VERY interesting information from several years ago which EVERYONE needs to read!
It’s about a general conspiracy unveiled, and we can bet that most of our readers do NOT know about this. Click here for an “exclusive five-part investigative report series that is a combined compilation of interviews and background research from October 1993 through March 2000 conducted by Lawgiver.Org.” It involves Depository Trust Company (DTC), a private entity which has connections with the Federal Reserve Bank (another private entity – not governmental!), and we will address them below.
Now, back to the monstrous Cede & Co…
We’ve referred to them briefly, but exactly who are they, and what do they do?
According to the Official Bond Marketing Document linked above, Cede & Company is shown as the holder of the bonds to protect the identity of the true owner… and that’s why we may NEVER know all of the identities of the bondholders for Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District. Cede & Co. is connected to a private bank called the Depository Trust Company (DTC) whose total assets as of December 31, 2016 were over $36 TRILLION. That’s about two times the TOTAL United States total debt! Their sign in front of their building reads ” The Tower of Power”!
The public doesn’t know that the Depository Trust Company (DTC) is a privately owned depository bank for institutional and brokerage firms only.
And it looks like Cede & Co. is a private holding company for DTC. The banks and brokers are merely custodians for their clientele.
So, what does Cede (pronounced “seed”) mean? Why did they, as a private bank, choose that particular name when they had SO many other choices? Of course, we can’t be sure, but we looked up the definition…
In Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, 1990, the word cede is defined as “To yield up; to assign; to grant; to withdraw. Generally used to designate the transfer of territory from one government to another”. In the Black’s 1951 Fourth Edition, it lists the following as supportive case law; Goetze v. United States, C.C.N.Y., 103 Fed. 72
Cede & Company operates as a clearing house for stock transactions. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in New York, New York. Cede & Company operates as a subsidiary of The Depository Trust Company.
Secure Arkansas’ conjecture is that the bondholders paid off legislators, other elected officials, agencies, and possibly others “under the table” to guarantee that they would not lose out on the bonds (since they weren’t guaranteed). Remember, the bondholders were made aware of the risk, but were the bondholders worried? Our guess is, no, that knew they would get paid!
Here’s some earlier background info… if you’re still with us!
Some History: Ex-Senator Johnny Key has been involved in these shenanigans for quite some time, as you’ll see if you read further down in this alert. Shown in this Court Listener article, Key approached Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in 2011 to ask for his opinion “concerning an interlocal agreement entered between Baxter County, Marion County, and the City of Mountain Home… called the “Interlocal Alliance Agreement” (hereinafter “Alliance Agreement” or “Agreement”), [which] was entered for the purpose of purchasing the NABORS Landfill and Hauling Operation.”
Secure Arkansas is currently looking for all the members that signed into this Agreement! Whomever signed onto this alliance agreement may have had some type of knowledge about was to occur in the future. We’ll provide more details on this in a future article… You may want to know that ex-Senator Johnny Key is now Arkansas Commissioner of the State Board of Education. Could this position be a reward for something? We don’t know…
In January 2015, Carroll County Solid Waste Authority Director Phil Jackson addressed the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District board to provide some history regarding the “ill-fated landfill”. From this Harrison Daily Times article, “Bondholders seeking receivership for landfill debt”:
Jackson explained that the district bought the landfill in 2005 with direction from the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District (EDD), even though there were issues with an overfill of one cell.
Creditors who bought bonds to finance the purchase were warned that the bonds weren’t guaranteed by a revenue stream, and every one of those risk factors came true, Jackson said.
The board spent millions of dollars on engineering fees for plans to correct problems at the landfill, but the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality rejected all those plans, Jackson said.
So, according to news reports, the board defaulted on the bonds, and the landfill was closed. Evidently, then ADEQ sued Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District to force the closure of NABORS Landfill, but the District supposedly had no money to close it. The District was ordered by the court to continue pumping leachate that was seeping from the cells. From what we’ve gathered, ADEQ has taken over the landfill (land grab) and used the District’s $2 million for permanent closure of the landfill, and it is being reported that finishing that project could cost up to $15 million… or MORE. Senator Johnny Key introduced special legislation in 2014 which would allow ADEQ to access the Post-Closure Trust Fund in order to close the NABORS Landfill – something that was not allowed under current law. The legislation, introduced as HB1040, was unfortunately passed into law as Act 274 (see page 11 of that link), and THAT is the law that forced taxpayers in that area to foot the bill for the bond default. You already know that the district filed for bankruptcy, but Circuit Judge Fox denied the request.
The way this whole fiasco is being presented by news media outlets and others, it seems to be letting the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District off the hook, when Secure Arkansas believes that most of the District members had prior knowledge of the outcome in the first place. Notice that at the hearing, nobody really had an objection: “none of the parties filed an objection or response or voiced an objection to the Report and Recommendations at the hearing”.
It appears that Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District may have deliberately allowed their financial position to deteriorate to a point that THEY `could have caused the bonds to be issued. The bondholders knew the risk of the bonds because of the statement on the bond offer. The bondholders mdiay have been promised in advance that the bonds would be the covered by the taxpayers and not to worry. This is how the dirty hand of politics works. The question is: who benefited from Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District defaulting on the bonds? It surely wasn’t the taxpayer.
It also seems like the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District attempted to prolong their bad financial position by filing for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy on January 26, 2014, and Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox denied this request.
Did Circuit Judge Fox rule in favor of the bondholders? He stated that the district could have assessed fees on businesses and homeowners in that district for trash service availability, whether it was used or not. Now, that’s exactly what has happened to you, residents and business owners in these 6 counties (post factum, or after the fact), and they’re requiring YOU to pay back the dreaded dirty debt! (Or, could the players/elected officials/gov’t agencies/bondholders have had prior knowledge that this plan was doomed to fail from the very beginning?) This court ruling needs to be challenged! Again, we remind you that there are 18 Solid Waste Districts in the state, so residents and businesses in other areas of the state need to WAKE UP and not fall prey to this victimizing practice! The District’s poor management led to bonds being issued to cover the closing of the landfill and cells (landfill areas) because the costs were underestimated.
For any taxing district to create bonds and then default on them, normally, the bondholders’ recourse is to claim the assets. A taxing district, in most cases, is actually an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and courts are guaranteeing the bondholders their money, so it’s understandably a good investment. There is NO risk to the bondholder in this case!
Normally, when someone defaults on a loan, the creditor will forclose on the debtor and take over the assets. Did any of you, taxpayers, co-sign on this loan? We didn’t think so. So, why are the taxpayers responsible for the default just because ADEQ and the courts said they must cover the loan on which Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District defaulted?
Remember it was the State Legislators, along with ADEQ, who CHANGED STATE LAW to force the taxpayers to cover the bond default.
Who else is involved in this, with particular regard to the solid waste district?
According to this document,
The Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District Board contracts with Via Recyclables, LLC. for administrative services relating to the actives of the Solid Waste Management District.
Melinda Caldwell is the executive director for Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District (from 2009 to present) and is listed as the Incorporator/Organizer of Via Recyclables, LLC, in Harrison. She appears to be a heavy player, as she is involved with local and state solid waste districts AND recycling. Just who is she? Keep reading…
From the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website, there are two companies that list Melinda Caldwell both the Registered Agent and the Incorporator/Organizer. See below.
If you’ll click here for the 2011 Ten Year Solid Waste Management Plan for the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, you’ll see that Melinda Caldwell submitted that plan as Executive Director of the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District to the Solid Waste Division of ADEQ. We want to remind you that the Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District name was changed to Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District. See page 27 of the above hyperlinked document for proof. (Again, this district is only one of eighteen districts in the state.)
Secure Arkansas asks the question: why was the name changed back in 2011? Was this around the time they were getting into financial trouble? Remember, the landfill was closed in 2012. It is Secure Arkansas’ opinion that the name change has to do with more than a change of ownership. The last known ownership inspection from ADEQ was sent to Marion County Judge Terry Ott.
Also, this document above says in Section 2.205 Administrative:
The district initiated a new contract for the management of its programs in August 2009. Via Recyclables, LLC is now the administrative contractor. Other regulations, ordinances, policies and bylaws, organizational charts, and maps have not changed, other than what is reported in this document. The district’s administrative procedures have not changed other than to authorize new signatories for the checking account. Recycling program reports including current Recycling Center Surveys, Recycling Grant Progress Reports, EWEN and Waste Tire Reports are all on file with ADEQ.
Interesting… Melinda Caldwell became the Executive Director for Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District in 2009… and that very same year, Via Recyclables, LLC (the private company which she incorporated/organized) became the administrative contractor for the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District. This seems highly suspicious and may point to a possible of interest. We were also unable to find any board associated with Via Recyclables, LLC. She does work with municipalities and elected officials, though…
And that brings up another question: who were the players/elected officials/administrators/government agencies that forced the taxing of residents’ and business’ personal property tax statements? Were they duped? Or is it possible that some players/elected officials/government agencies collaborated on a pre-determined outcome? Could somebody (or multiple people) be getting paid off in all of this? Now it is being reported that the cost to close the NABORS Landfill could be up to $20 MILLION. Seems the cost grows larger every time there’s a new newspaper report!
And they’re playing dumb… like they’re all just doing their jobs, and then “Oops! Now we’re bankrupt!”
The mob could not have done a better job on this heist, if they did it themselves!
Maybe we should look at the hierarchy in the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District:
2011 Organizational Hierarchy Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District
- Ownership, Operation and Administration of NABORS Landfill and Hauling in Baxter County
- Ownership, Operation and Administration of DAMCO Tire Recycling Facility
- Administrative Contract with Via Recyclables, LLC Melinda Caldwell, Executive Director of Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District at same time. Could this be a conflict of interest?
- Operations Manager for NABORS Landfill and Hauling, Jason Kincade
- Accounting and Administrative Support Staff
Melinda Caldwell, Executive Director of Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, is also Manager and Incorporator/Organizer of Melinda Caldwell Consulting, LLC, and Via Recyclables, LLC.
Melinda Caldwell
http://www.viarecyclables.com and 870-688-9362 (If you go to that website, you can see that she markets tires and a lot of other recyclable products. We’ll bet the NABORS Landfill is a good source for her company! $$$) According to the newspaper reports, it looks like they are making a big deal over the tires around NABORS Landfill. It’s been reported that the tires would eventually be buried, and the clean-up could run into MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars that has been passed onto YOU, the taxpayer! Why would the landfill bury the tires when Melinda’s brokerage company recycles the tires? Why should the taxpayer pay for a major clean up when she markets and recycles trash??? Looks like she would want those products that are in the landfill. Other examples of the trash her company recycles is plastic bottles, cardboard, newspapers, carpet, metals, old electronics, oil, etc. Wow, we can’t help but wonder where she gets her products to market. On the above website, it even says that 75% of all solid waste is recyclable. Again, we are speculating here, but could 75% of the solid waste in the landfill be worth a lot of money?…but the courts have passed this expense off to the taxpayer??? What a racket!!!
Harrison Daily Times put out another article in February 2015 (Solid waste board wants to protect recycling) mentioning Melinda Caldwell and recycling grants. Here are some excerpts:
Meeting recently, solid waste district director Melinda Caldwell said much of what the district does doesn’t always grab media attention due to other problems the district has with NABORS landfill and a tire dump, both in Baxter County.
She said a major source of funding is recycling grants from Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. The purpose behind recycling, she said, is to divert as much trash as possible from the landfill.
Recycling grants! This issue will have to be covered in a Part Two of our reporting.
The following chart is from the Arkansas Secretary of State site that we found when doing a search of Melinda Caldwell, Register Agent.
|
Name |
City |
State |
Status |
|
HARRISON |
AR |
Dissolved |
|
|
HARRISON |
AR |
Good Standing |
Click here for Melinda Caldwell’s professional profile.
We pulled the information shown in the chart below from the Arkansas Secretary of State site. Apparently, Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District operates and administers DAMCO Tire Recycling, so what about them?
The Registered Agent of the following three entities is Kerry D. Chism of Mountain Home, AR
- DAMCO, INC – Officer is Kenton F. Treat II.
- Tire Disposal Systems – Register Agent Kerry D. Chism, No officers shown
- West Plains Pawn and Fine Jewelry, Inc – Officer Kenton F. Treat II
|
Name |
City |
State |
Status |
|
MOUNTAIN HOME |
AR |
Revoked |
|
|
MOUNTAIN HOME |
AR |
Revoked |
|
|
MOUNTAIN HOME |
AR |
Revoked |
We’ll cover this further in Part 2… this alert is long enough already!
The Past Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District Board of Directors Organization Chart:(From 2011)
- Board Chairman – Mayor Tim McKinney of Berryville
- Vice Chairman – Marion County Judge James Giles
- Secretary/Treasurer – Mayor David Osmon of Mountain Home
- Members at Large – County Judges, Tier 1 City Mayors, and Solid Waste Authority Directors
Below is the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste 2014 Past District Board from this site.
2016 Update: This KTLO article shows Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass was elected chairman by the board in 2016 for the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District.
Below, we are showing the reader the past Ozark Mountain Solid Waste Management District Board. Many of the current board members are the same as the members in the past.
Baxter County
|
Judge Mickey D. Pendergrass |
Mayor Dave Osmon |
|
Mayor Jeff Braim |
|
Boone County
|
Mayor Jeff Crockett – Chairman |
Judge James Norton – Secretary/Treasurer |
Carroll County
|
Judge Sam Barr |
Mr. Buddy Fry |
|
Mr. Phil Jackson – Vice Chairman |
Mayor Tim McKinney |
Marion County
|
Judge Terry Ott |
Mayor Bruce Powell |
Newton County
|
Judge Warren Campbell |
Mayor Shane Kilgore |
Searcy County
|
Mayor Jim Smithson |
What do we know about some of these past board members? (Some are still on the current board.)
Some of them who have been players all along are highly questionable…
Marion [County] Judge accused of ethics violation receives letter of caution
Harrison Daily Times, February 13, 2015
Marion Co. judge fined, reprimanded by ethics commission
The Baxter BulletinOct 23, 2016 by Scott Liles
We have been checking some of the financial holdings of the players/actors/officials involved with the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, and you need to check it out for yourself. We will provide the link, and all you have to do is follow the money.
- Ex Mayor of Harrison, Jeff Crockett – Boone County Land Holdings – Source: Boone County Assessor’s office
- Many of the parcels owned by Jeffery Crockett are listed in the Boone County Assessor’s Office appraised at $0 and Estimated taxes as $0.
Looks like The Jeff Crockett Trust is worth millions and millions of dollars!
(Hello?! Normal people cannot accumulate that kind of wealth in their entire lifetime!)
Another interesting article on Crockett and Norton:
It appears the joint meeting in Harrison with Boone County Ex-Mayor Crockett and Boone County Ex-Judge Norton was a sham! Here’s another excerpt from the Harrison Daily Times, and according to this piece from August 2011 entitled “County, city join hands in tax prayer; Voters must approve”, the Boone County Quorum Court and Harrison City Council pray for a tax increase in Boone County. They actually pretend to pray? And for a TAX? Unbelievable, dear reader! (They call good “evil” and evil “good”.)
Meeting in joint session, both bodies agreed to work together to try and convince voters to pass a county-wide one-cent sales tax.
Also…
Crockett told 10 JPs and seven aldermen that the city wouldn’t be able to offer the trash swap if it partners with the county on the tax. The city could also stand to lose some $400,000 in projected sales tax revenue.
However, he anticipates the county growing, and with the county’s offer to evenly split revenue with Harrison, the city could eventually be in good shape.
The city council and quorum court meeting together is highly unusual…
(Currently, Dan Sherrell is the Mayor of Harrison and Robert Hathaway, Boone County Judge.)
Here are some more important documents we found which we haven’t had time to investigate yet, but we wanted to link them for your information:
- RHL Permit for disposal site to ADEQ in 1987-1988
- Mitchell Law Firm – ADEQ RFQ for Closure on NABORS Landfill
- ADEQ deed restriction for areas of NABORS Landfill
- Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District – Needs Assessment 2/28/2013
The Solid Waste Division maintains a historical timeline of solid waste management in Arkansas. Click here for the ADEQ 1971 – 2011 timeline.
The State of Arkansas 2014 Statewide Solid Waste Management Plan will be helpful for those readers that want to look a little further into this Sustainable Development matter:
Listed below from the document linked above are the 2014 Statewide Solid Waste Management Plan Committee Members. (Notice Melinda Caldwell’s name under “Recycling”.)
The Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District appeared by and through Verkamp and Ladd, P.A., attorneys, by John Paul Verkamp, a past Arkansas state representative from Greenwood, Arkansas in the 85th General Assemmbly (2001-2003) and presently the city attorney for Charleston, Arkansas. He is also the attorney for the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste Management District Board.
Secure Arkansas attempted to contact Mr. Verkamp late Wednesday afternoon (January 24, 2018), and he hasn’t returned our call this week.
Here’s a short snippet from Arkansas Online from October 28, 2017:
Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality officials are not aware of a way they could have prevented the financial collapse of a regional solid waste district or could prevent another one in the future, an agency attorney told the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission on Friday.
The department is spending $12.9 million to bail out the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, but the money will be recouped through a fee of $18 per year that will be paid by the residents of Carroll, Boone, Marion, Baxter, Searcy and Newton counties in north Arkansas.
Sounds like they already know this type of financial collapse will happen again…
Could this be open for a lawsuit? We are left still wondering why the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District failed! The public needs a report submitted to hold those responsible with all the facts and figures because this could happen once again in our state. Melinda Caldwell is one of those persons who needs to be held accountable – to answer more questions and appear before the public that should be gathered together in those affected 6 counties. We have mentioned her name at least 15 times in this article! We need to give her an invitation to speak at a public meeting and appear before the public to better explain what happened. Because of hers and others’ actions, the property tax statements of thousands of northern Arkansas residents and businesses will be taxed.
Now, we turn your attention back to Cede & Company – the recipient of the principal and interest for the bonds sold in the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District matter. As Secure Arkansas researched Cede & Company further, we found that they are involved with a lot of other bonds here in our state and other states. Here are some examples of entities below:
City of Pine Bluff, Arkansas $3,080,000 Series 2016 Bonds
Payments of principal of and interest on the Bonds will be made by Simmons Bank, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, as the Trustee, directly to Cede & Co., as nominee for DTC, as registered owner of the Bonds, to be subsequently disbursed to DTC Participants and thereafter to the Beneficial Owners of the Bonds, all as further described herein.
Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas Athletic Facilities Revenue Bonds Fayetteville Campus.
Series 2016A $24,845,000
Series 2016B $90,000,000
The Bonds are issuable as fully registered bonds and, when issued, will be registered in the name of Cede & Co., as nominee of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), New York, New York, to which principal and interest payments on the Bonds will be made so long as Cede & Co. is the registered owner of the Bonds. Individual purchases of the Bonds will be made only in book-entry form, in the denominations of $5,000 or any integral multiple thereof. Individual purchasers of the Bonds (“Beneficial Owners”) will not receive physical delivery of bond certificates
From the FDIC Site for failed Bank Information
First Southern Bank, Batesville, AR
III. Acquiring Financial Institution
All deposit accounts, excluding the Cede & Co. deposits, have been transferred to Southern Bank, Poplar Bluff, MO (“assuming institution”) and will be available immediately. The former First Southern Bank location will reopen as a branch of Southern Bank during regular business hours.
We are talking about MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars, and the taxpayers are absolutely outraged at being subjected and forced (EXTORTION) to pay for the mistakes, deception, and greed of others! One way to hold the players accountable for the fiasco and all the money problems is to have them appear before large gathering of the public in the counties affected and ask them to explain and to take questions from the public at large. There should be a special meeting called for that area!
And unfortunately, we now have Sustainable Development code written into our Arkansas statute. Keep reading…
Arkansas Code Subchapter 8– Bonds by Regional Solid Waste Management Districts
Arkansas Code Title 8. Environmental Law § 8-6-801 – Definitions
A.C.A. § 8-6-807. Bonds — Liability — Payment and security (bullet pointed below)
- (a) It shall be plainly stated on the face of each bond that it has been issued under the provisions of this subchapter and that the bonds are obligations only of the regional solid waste management district.
- (b) No member of the regional solid waste management board shall be personally liable on the bonds or for any damages sustained by anyone in connection with any contracts entered into in carrying out the purpose and intent of this subchapter unless he or she shall have acted with corrupt intent.
- (c) The principal of and interest on the bonds shall be payable from and may be secured by a pledge of revenues derived from the project acquired, constructed, reconstructed, equipped, extended, or improved, in whole or in part, with the proceeds of the bonds or obligations of the owners of projects.
Regional Solid Waste Management Districts Map
In closing, here is the map for solid waste districts for the entire state. Pay close attention to waste management in your county and area…especially the players and elected officials supposedly working on making the county better.
Have ears to hear… Over the years, Secure Arkansas has watched our rural areas struggle and suffer extensively because of job loss and local businesses going belly-up. Their standard of living has greatly declined! People must now travel great distances from their home for employment, and some children have to ride many extra miles on the school bus because of school consolidation. The quality of healthcare is not as good as it used to be years ago, especially in rural areas. Taxes grow higher and higher to pay. What is happening?
Well, you simply have to look at “Sustainable Development Goals” in your area, and a fitting example is this trash tax. If all of those United Nations agenda goals are implemented through your elected JPs and elected city councilman via ordinances and the like, even as our state representatives and senators bring in all those pre-written bills (thousands of bills are written by corporations) to submit to the legislature to become law every other year, that actually ends up taking large sums of money right out of our already lean pockets through TAXES, fees, and fines!
Sustainable Development
This is implemented through the United Nations’ devious Sustainable Development agenda (Agenda 2030, previously called U.N. Agenda 21) locally as well as regionally and globally, often through Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), public-private partnerships, and sneaky schemes between government and private entities. Ultimately, we end up with a land grab!
The Association of Arkansas Counties is a private entity, for example! They are now in a position of oversight in all our Arkansas Counties! They are the private entity to whom our counties turn for guidance and who provide all of the procedural manuals for county government. This is part of the shadow government that’s ruling over our actual government, and we’ll never be able to take our local government back until we get rid of the Association of Arkansas Counties! (We have addressed this in previous articles.) Multitudes of globalist goals and regulations are implemented onto the broken backs of the general public bringing us down to the ground! Are you finding yourself struggling to survive and to make ends meet? We must shake ourselves free from the restraints that are multiplying every time our elected officials gather together! More dastardly codes mushroom and are directed onto the people! More law is written against us, than for us, folks!
We must stay ever vigilant, dear reader! Shouldn’t we be keeping careful watch as dangers and difficulties swirl like a storm of darkness all around us? We can pray, but we also had better RISE UP and do something about this comprehensive, evil system that is developing at a feverish pace around you and me. Faith without works is dead. Remember, this victimization starts LOCALLY first! This trash tax has been developing for many years now. And don’t assume that your elected official is working for your benefit… because, in most cases, they are NOT! Remember, vote “NO” on bond issues! Here is a letter written to the editor of the Baxter Bulletin showing that people are paying attention, but we must DO more than that.
Letters to the Editor – The Baxter Bulletin 5/23/17
I wholeheartedly agree with Bob Slagle’s comments regarding the NABORS fiasco. Apparently the presiding judge in the lawsuit did not bother to educate himself on the difference between a revenue bond and a general obligation bond before making his ruling.
Where as a general obligation bond is secured by the issuers full faith and credit, in particular, the issuers’ taxing power, A revenue bonds interest and principal payments are derived from revenues from the project financed by the bond issue. If the project does not generate the expected revenue to pay back the bondholders, they lose their investment unless the bonds are insured, which these bonds where not. This is highly unusual that the tax payers in this six county area are being required to pay back the bondholders of these bonds.
I too would like to know who the bondholders are and who they know to be able to get this highly unusual ruling.
ACTION: Contact these people below and have them sponsor legislation repealing this terrible trash tax legislation. Call YOUR:
- City Councilmen
- Justices of the Peace (JPs)
- State Senator
- State Representative
Call a public meeting, rent the Duran Center in Harrison (for example), invite local officials to provide answers and corrective measures to get this trash tax repealed and stopped.
Also, call your County Judge and Mayor to be sure they’re at the meeting.
“It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error;
it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.”– Justice Robert H. Jackson (appointed as chief prosecutor for the United States in the proposed trials of Nazi war criminals)
* PLEASE let us know if we need to make any corrections to this extra-lengthy article. *
Be sure to refer to the newspaper and other articles that we have gathered together, listed chronologically (below), and used in this alert. They have been written over the many years leading up to this quagmire and will help residents and business owners to better understand the unfair trash tax situation. Secure Arkansas hopes we have compiled enough information for YOU to use.
- Court Listener 4/1/2011 (Senator Johnny Key asks AG Dustin McDaniel for his opinion re Alliance Board)
- Baxter Bulletin 1/23/2014 (Senator Johnny Key wants state funds to close NABORS landfill)
- Baxter Bulletin 3/4/2014 (NABORS landfill funding resurrected by House)
- Harrison Daily Times 10/30/2014 (Closing landfill could reach $20M)
- Harrison Daily Times 1/30/15 (Bondholders seeking receivership for landfill debt)
- Harrison Daily Times 2/18/2015 (Solid waste board wants to protect recycling)
- Baxter Bulletin 4/12/2015 (Closing landfill a key goal for 2015 Mtn. Home Mayor Joe Dillard, Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass)
- Citizens For Clean Water Twin Lakes 5/1/2015 (Mentions Sen. Johnny Key introducing legislation in 2014 – HB1040 which is now Act 274. This also allows ADEQ to seek reimbursement from the District after the landfill is closed.)
- Harrison Daily Times 12/10/2015 (NABORS landfill update coming Friday – including history of the WHOLE debacle)
- KTLO article date not shown (Solid waste management board hear recommendation of debt repayment)
- Project Landfill Closure: Engineers estimate $15.9 Million 3/7/2016
- Baxter Bulletin 4/26/2017 (Judge: Landowners to pay $18 per year for NABORS bonds)
- KTLO Article Mid-to-late year 2017 (NABORS landfill closure finally underway)
- Arkansas Online 10/28/2017 (Board is filled in on waste districts)
Stay tuned!
Remember: eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
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Securing the blessings of liberty,
Secure Arkansas
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