LITTLE ROCK — The city of Beebe has sued White County over U.S. census figures the county is using to decide how much state tax money to allocate local fire departments.
The lawsuit challenges the formula being used to forward that money to the county’s 30 municipal fire departments and rural fire districts.
The complaint contends that White County Judge Michael Lincoln had no statutory authority to ask the White County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council to decide last March whether to rely on population figures from the 2000 U.S. Census or the 2010 Census.
Lincoln said Monday that he called the March meeting upon the request of a fire chief who wanted to switch from the 2000 Census figures to the 2010 Census figures because that chief’s area had grown in population. But the council of mayors voted 7-5 to continue with the 2000 Census figures, Lincoln said.
“I didn’t have any reason to dispute the decision made by the intergovernmental council,” he added.
The plaintiffs request that, among other things, the presiding judge rule that the distribution formula should be based upon the most recent census.
“There is absolutely no statutory authority for the White County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council to have any input on the issue of the establishment of an apportionment or distribution formula based on population for the Fire Protection Premium Tax Funds,” the lawsuit says.
Distribution by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration has always been based “solely upon the population” of the municipalities and the rural fire districts in White County, it adds.
Lincoln said the White County Quorum Court didn’t have to take any action after the council’s decision because the county was sticking with the old census.
Matthew Hutsell, a Little Rock attorney representing the county, said Monday that he expects to file a response within the next two weeks.
All three judges in the 17th Judicial District have recused from the lawsuit, filed Oct. 29 in White County Circuit Court. The Arkansas Supreme Court has been asked to appoint a special judge.
In addition to the county judge and the Quorum Court, other defendants include Richard M. Drilling, a manager in the Office of Administrative Services of the Department of Finance and Administration, and Kendell Snyder, manager of the Office of Fire Protection Services in the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 11/30/2012