Bank OZK has turned over $2,660,982.87 in disputed landfill fees, and property owners across six north Arkansas counties are getting $12.10 back for every $18 they paid.
The money left the bank this summer under agreed court orders in Baxter, Searcy and Newton counties. The orders followed three Arkansas Court of Appeals rulings on May 20 that gutted the legal foundation the bank and the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District had relied on since 2017. Bank OZK did not ask the Arkansas Supreme Court to review the decisions, and the cases are now final.
Baxter County property owners paid more into the fee than any other county. Bank records filed in Baxter County Circuit Court show $737,565.71 was collected here in 2018 and 2019. With $101,285.84 in interest added, Baxter County’s share of the refund pool is $838,851.55…