HIGHFILL, Ark. — According to court records, the City of Highfill is suing the Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) after its recent decision to detach from the city.
According to a press release from XNA, the board approved a resolution to detach all of the property it owns located in Highfill on Sept. 19. XNA said the decision comes after "multiple attempts to negotiate an interlocal agreement had failed."
Earlier this year, Act 769 was passed by Arkansas lawmakers, allowing regional airports to detach from the municipalities. As it stands, with 2% of transactions at XNA going to Highfill as a city sales tax, the airport claims it "receives no benefit from these tax dollars because it receives no municipal services from Highfill such as road maintenance, construction, utility infrastructure, police/fire, etc."
In the complaint, Highfill says this 2% generates about $1,000,000 a year which funds the majority of the city's municipal operations.
Court documents show that Highfill says the detachment is "unconstitutional" and violates the "separation of powers principle," as they attempt to stop the airport from leaving the city.
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