26-74-209. Conduct of election and results — Challenges.

26-74-209. Conduct of election and results — Challenges. (a) The election shall be conducted in the manner provided by law for all other county elections unless otherwise specified in this subchapter. (b) When the election results have been certified, the county court shall immediately issue a proclamation declaring the results of the election and cause the proclamation to be published one (1) time in a newspaper having general circulation within the county. (c) Any person desiring to challenge the results of the election as published in the proclamation shall file the challenge in the circuit court of the county within thirty (30) days after the date of publication of the proclamation. (d)(1) The county court shall notify the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration of the countywide tax after publication of the proclamation has occurred and ninety (90) days before the effective date of the tax. (2)(A)(i) Except as provided in subdivision (d)(2)(A)(ii) of this section, if an election challenge is not timely filed, the countywide tax shall be levied, effective on the first day of the first month of the calendar quarter after a minimum of sixty (60) days' notice by the secretary to sellers and after the expiration of the thirty-day challenge period, on the gross receipts from the sale at retail within the county of all items and services that are subject to the Arkansas Gross Receipts Act of 1941, § 26-52-101 et seq. (ii) The effective date of the levy of the countywide tax may be delayed under § 26-74-208(d). (B) In every county where the local sales and use tax has been adopted under this subchapter, there is imposed an excise tax on the storage, use, distribution, or consumption within the county of tangible personal property or services purchased, leased, or rented from any retailer outside the state after the effective date of the sales and use tax for storage, use, distribution, or other consumption in the county at the same rate on the sale price of the property or in the case of leases or rentals on the lease or rental price, the rate of the use tax to correspond to the rate of the sales tax portion of the tax. (3) The use tax portion of the local sales and use tax shall be collected according to the terms of the Arkansas Compensating Tax Act of 1949, § 26-53-101 et seq. (e)(1) In the event of an election challenge, the tax shall be collected as prescribed in subsection (d) of this section unless enjoined by a court order. (2) A hearing involving this litigation shall be advanced on the docket of the court and disposed of at the earliest feasible time.