Ark. Code Ann. § 26-26-1109 (2020)
Timber rights
History. Acts 1897, No. 30, § 1, p. 38; 1905, No. 303, §§ 1, 2, p. 738; C. & M. Dig., §§ 9856, 9940, 9941; Acts 1929, No. 221, § 1; Pope's Dig., §§ 13600, 13724, 13725; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 84-203, 84-432, 84-433.
Cross References. Assessment of timber land, Ark. Const., Art. 16, § 15.
Tax on timber and range lands, § 26-61-101 et seq.
Timber rights as taxable property, § 26-3-205.
Research References
U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev.
Annual Survey of Caselaw, Property Law, 25 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 1025.
Case Notes
Constitutionality.
This section is not unconstitutional as discriminating against corporations in favor of individuals. State ex rel. Attorney Gen. v. Ark. Fuel Oil Co., 179 Ark. 848, 18 S.W.2d 906 (1929); Ark. Fuel Oil Co. v. State, 180 Ark. 765, 22 S.W.2d 556 (1929).
Applicability.
Standing timber, although the ownership thereof is severed from the ownership of the soil, is part of the land and as such, subject to assessment in a levee district. Lewis v. Delinquent Lands, 182 Ark. 838, 33 S.W.2d 379 (1930).
This section is intended to apply to the assessment of property for general taxes rather than to an assessment of benefits by an improvement district. Long Prairie Levee Dist. v. Wall, 227 Ark. 305, 298 S.W.2d 52 (1957).
Abandonment.
Failure of purported owner of timber to assess or pay taxes on timber for a period of approximately 40 years was evidence of abandonment of timber rights. United States v. Wheeler, 161 F. Supp. 193 (W.D. Ark. 1958).
Separate Assessment.
This section does not authorize separate assessment of standing timber and collection of taxes thereon except in cases where “the timber rights in any land shall, by conveyance or otherwise, be held by one or more persons, firm or corporation and the fee simple in the land by one or more persons, firms or corporations.” Connell v. Pioneer Cooperage Co., 172 Ark. 1056, 291 S.W. 1005 (1927).
Where land and timber rights had been owned by one person, a purchaser of the land, apart from the timber, who voluntarily paid the taxes on both land and timber could not recover the proportionate amount of the taxes on the timber from the purchaser of the timber. Connell v. Pioneer Cooperage Co., 172 Ark. 1056, 291 S.W. 1005 (1927).
When there has been a severance of timber rights by a deed duly recorded, such rights must be assessed separately and apart from the surface rights. Huffman v. Henderson Co., 184 Ark. 278, 42 S.W.2d 221 (1931).
When timber rights have not been assessed separately from the surface rights, the assessment will be held to apply only to the surface rights, and a sale under this assessment will operate to convey title only to the surface rights. Huffman v. Henderson Co., 184 Ark. 278, 42 S.W.2d 221 (1931).
In sum, this section provides that timber rights held by one person are to be assessed separately from the fee simple rights of another in the land, because the timber rights are separate from another's rights in the soil. Bonds v. Carter, 348 Ark. 591, 75 S.W.3d 192 (2002).
Cited: Sorkin v. Myers, 216 Ark. 908, 227 S.W.2d 958 (1950).