HIGHFILL, Ark. — The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, or XNA, has formally filed a petition to detach from the City of Highfill.
The move is a major step in a process started just over a year ago when the airport's board voted unanimously to detach from Highfill.
An airport spokesperson said at the time that by de-annexing, XNA would become its own unincorporated community and sales tax revenue would go to the airport to fund improvement and projects.
Highfill followed up with a lawsuit in October 2023 in hopes of keeping the airport within the municipality. The suit claims that if the airport were to detach, it would affect bond agreements and could even financially cripple the city.
The parties said that 2% of transactions at XNA go to Highfill as a city sales tax. The city claims that the tax generates over $1 million a year for funding the city's municipal operations, and XNA claims that it doesn't benefit because it doesn't receive municipal services from Highfill.
The court later sided with XNA in denying a preliminary injunction in the suit, allowing the airport to continue with its plans to detach. Despite an objection filed by the City of Highfill on Sept. 30, the airport officially began the detachment process.
On Oct. 5, XNA confirmed that it had formally filed a petition to detach from Highfill, directing 5NEWS to the following comment:
“After recently learning that the City of Highfill intends to take on a significant amount of new debt, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority filed a petition to detach from the city."
"Northwest Arkansas National Airport is a regional asset that was created to benefit all of Northwest Arkansas, not just one particular municipality. Detaching from the City of Highfill will restore this original vision.”
5NEWS reached out to Highfill Mayor Chris Holland and did not hear back.
More information about the lawsuit and the history of this feud, as well as the potential impact it could have, can be found here.
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