(a)
(1) Each county of the state is authorized to provide and shall provide a solid waste management system adequate to collect and dispose of all solid wastes generated or existing within the boundaries of the county and outside the corporate limits of any municipality in the county.
(2) By agreement or contractual arrangement, the county may assume responsibility for solid wastes generated within municipalities whether within its county or other counties.
(3) A county may enter into agreements with other counties, one (1) or more municipalities, a regional solid waste management district, governmental agencies, private persons, trusts, or with any combination thereof, to provide a solid waste management system for the county or any portion thereof, but the agreement shall not relieve the parties to the agreement of their responsibilities under this subchapter.
(b)
(1)
(A) A county government may levy and collect the fees and charges and require the licenses that are appropriate to discharge the county's responsibility for a solid waste management system or any portion thereof. Each fee, charge, and license shall be based on a fee schedule contained in an ordinance.
(B)
(i) A county may provide by ordinance that responsibility for payment of the fees and charges rests on the occupant of the property.
(ii) The ordinance shall provide that the owner of the property is the occupant unless, before the fifth day of the month of service, the owner registers with the county the name and address of the tenant occupying the property and either the date that the lease is to expire or that the lease is month-to-month.
(2)
(A)
(i) A county government may collect its fees and service charges by using its own system of periodic billing or by entering the fees and service charges on the county tax records and then collecting the fees and service charges annually with the personal property taxes.
(ii)
(a) If a tenant has been registered as an occupant under subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section, then the tenant is responsible for paying the fees and charges, and the county may collect the fees and charges annually from the tenant's personal property taxes.
(b) The county may also assess an additional annual fee of ten percent (10%) for invoicing and collecting the delinquent fees and charges from the tenant rather than the owner.
(iii) If a tenant has not been registered as an occupant under subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section, then the owner is responsible for paying the fees and charges, and the county may collect the fees and charges annually from the owner's personal property taxes or real property taxes.
(B) Further, a fee or service charge billed periodically by the county that is more than ninety (90) days delinquent or is delinquent as of the date set by the quorum court by ordinance may be entered on the tax records of the county as a delinquent periodic fee or service charge and may be collected by the county with personal property taxes or with real property taxes from the owner of the property in accordance with a county ordinance, except as provided in subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section.
(C)
(i) A county collector shall not accept payment of property taxes if an annual fee or service charge or a delinquent periodic fee or service charge appears on the county tax records of a taxpayer unless the fee or service charge due is also receipted.
(ii) These funds shall be receipted and deposited into an official account of the county collector, who shall settle the account at least quarterly.
(iii) The amount of the fees and service charges collected shall be paid to the county treasurer by the county collector, less four percent (4%) to be retained by the county collector. In addition, when the county collector maintains a separate tax book for the fees and charges, the county collector may charge an additional two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) for collection.
(3)
(A) In counties in which the fees are entered on the tax records for yearly collection or if the periodic fees and service charges are more than ninety (90) days delinquent or are delinquent as of the date set by the quorum court by ordinance, the fees and service charges shall be entered on the tax records of the county by the county clerk and shall be collected by the county collector with the personal property taxes or with real property taxes from the owner of the property in accordance with a county ordinance, except as provided in subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section.
(B) The fees and service charges to be collected shall be certified to the county clerk by December 1 each year by an appropriate municipal official or the mayor.
(4) Annual fees and service charges or the delinquent periodic fees and service charges which remain unpaid after the time other property taxes are due shall constitute a lien on the real and personal property of the taxpayer which may be enforced against such property by an action in circuit court.
(c) A county may accept and disburse funds derived from federal or state grants, from private sources, or from moneys that may be appropriated from any available funds for the installation and operation of a solid waste management system or any part thereof.
(d) A county is authorized to contract for the lease or purchase of land, facilities, and vehicles for the operation of a solid waste management system either for the county or as a party to a regional solid waste authority.
(e) A county shall have the right to issue orders, to establish policies for, and to enact ordinances concerning all phases of the operation of a solid waste management system, including hours of operation, the character and kinds of wastes accepted at the disposal site, the separation of wastes according to type by those generating them prior to collection, the type of container for storage of wastes, the prohibition of the diverting of recyclable materials by persons other than the generator or collector of the recyclable materials, the prohibition of burning of wastes, the pretreatment of wastes, and such other rules as may be necessary or appropriate, so long as such orders, policies, and ordinances are consistent with, in accordance with, and not more restrictive than, those adopted by, under, or pursuant to this subchapter or any other laws, rules, regulations, or orders adopted by state law or incorporated by reference from federal law, the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, or the regional solid waste management boards or regional solid waste management districts, unless:
(1) There exists a fully implemented comprehensive area-wide zoning plan and corresponding laws or ordinances covering the entire county; or
(2) The county has made a request to the board or district to adopt a more restrictive rule, regulation, order, or standard and no public hearing has been held within sixty (60) days or the request has not been acted upon within ninety (90) days.