Special thanks to The Alexandrian for bringing this story to our attention.
Does the City of Alexander own all the land where their park is located or is it a Little Rock resident, David W. Jacks, that owns part of it, and further, is the City leasing it from him or not? There has been a disagreement about who owns a tract of land within the city limits at Alexander City Park.
Sales records from Saline County Assessor’s Office show the land has defaulted to the State of Arkansas, then redeemed in 2003, 2012 and 2016.
According to the Saline County Assessor’s Office, Mr. Jacks purchased a 2.13-acre tract of land in 2000 from Doug W. Loftin (Note that the county and city spell this last name differently).
The park consists of two tracts of land. The city indisputably owns one larger tract at the rear of the park – the west side. It was deeded to the City by Doug Loftin, according to County records. There is also a sign at the entrance to the park that includes the phrase, “Donated by Doug Lofton.”
The other tract, involving Jacks, has frontage at Highway 111, On the east side of the park. Both tracks are bordered on their south side by Robert Evans Road.
Over the years, Mr Jacks fell into arrears with State taxes on the land, so the tract defaulted, but then Jacks would pay the taxes and redeem the land to his ownership. The taxes are current at this time, but County records show they were delinquent 13 times in the last 15 years and delinquent as recent as 2021.
According to The Alexandrian, Mr. Jacks recently asked the City to remit a receipt for $248,248 in exchange for his donating the land, so that he could do that from his income tax return. There was another dispute about whether that was the value of just the land, considering that the city had made improvements to the land.
More recently, Mr. Jacks submitted that the city owed him $80,000 in lease payments for occupying the land. The city contends that there is no lease agreement, therefore they are not required to pay anything. Alexander City Council voted at a March 20, 2023 meeting to pursue eminent domain to acquire the property. The city submitted a check for $68,000 along with the filing, which is the appraised value of the land as of September 2022.
Find more details of the whole story of the dispute of this piece of property at http://thealexandrian2013.blogspot.com/2023/03/alexander-files-eminent-domain-suit-for.html.