Judges: MARK PRYOR, Attorney General
Filed Date: 12/9/1999
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Stephen M. Simon State Representative 13 Bud Chuck Lane Conway, Arkansas 72032-9788
Dear Representative Simon:
This is in response to your request for an opinion on whether it is "legal for a rural water district to charge fees unrelated to the general operation of the water district." Specifically, your note that the following note was attached to the monthly bill of the "Beaverfork Water Division" members' bill:
Dear Fellow Members:
In lieu of raising the water rates, a $1.00 Special Service Charge will be added to the water bills to help meet the cost of legal representation during project closure in which we plan to recover over $30,000 for private property damages caused by the Construction Contractor.
The service charge will first appear on the bills mailed September 30, 1999, and will remain in effect until legal representation is no longer needed.
RESPONSE
Your question is whether it is legal for the "rural water district" to charge this fee. I must decline to answer this question, as its resolution will of necessity include a review of the by-laws and articles of incorporation of the private water entity at issue and reference to pertinent facts to which I am not privy. I am prohibited from the private practice of law (A.C.A. §
It is my understanding that the "rural water district" or "Water Division" to which you refer is actually a division of the Beaverfork Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., a private nonprofit corporation organized under the provisions of Act 176 or 1963 and Act 1147 of 1993. The ability of such corporations to impose "service charges" is not specifically addressed by state law. See however, A.C.A. §
The resolution of the question you pose (whether the service charge referenced in your question is legal), would require an analysis of all the surrounding facts. I have been provided with neither the articles of incorporation or by-laws of the private nonprofit corporation, nor with sufficient facts to determine the legality of the charge at issue. In any event, the resolution of such question requires the resolution of private rights. I must decline to issue an opinion on such matters. See, e.g., Ops. Att'y Gen. No.
The answer to the question you pose must therefore be resolved with the aid of private counsel.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Elana C. Wills prepared the foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
MARK PRYOR Attorney General
MP:ECW/cyh