A group of tire shops across Arkansas can expect letters from state tax officials to greet them at the start of the new year. Thanks to a new state law, the Department of Finance and Administration now has the authority to close a business that becomes delinquent on waste tire fees.
The new power is meant to help fix Arkansas’ underfunded tire recycling program, but local recycling officials across the state are skeptical it’s a long-term solution. In all, 346 businesses owe $4.3 million in unpaid scrap tire fees, but the state doesn’t expect to recoup nearly that much. More than $2.6 million of the debt belongs to 185 now-defunct businesses, and collection from those businesses is rare, according to Scott Hardin, a finance department spokesman.
The new law took effect Oct. 1, and any business delinquent by two months or more will receive a letter. The department declined to release a list of the delinquent business, citing tax privacy laws. “The earliest an account will qualify for Business Closure will be after the first of the year for the October, November, and December periods,” Hardin said in an email. “The first Business Closure Warning letters will be distributed in January to delinquent accounts. The process will be complete (closure will take place) at the end of February to early March if the accounts remain unpaid.”