BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials say having more time to inform people about a new courts building proposal was the biggest factor in a decision to aim for a vote next November rather than at the March 1 primary.
The justices of the peace agreed Tuesday to seek a vote at the Nov. 8, 2016, general election. The county has worked on plans for a new building for circuit courts and related offices for the past few years. The Public Safety Committee has endorsed keeping the courts in downtown Bentonville. The Finance Committee has focused on a sales tax increase or a millage increase as likely funding mechanisms. Raising either tax will require voter approval. Cost estimates range from $25 million to $30 million.
What’s next
Benton County officials will discuss plans for a new courts building at the Quorum Court’s August meeting, set for 6 p.m. Thursday in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville.
Source: Staff report
Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7, hoped to move the project along but he is unwilling to push too quickly.
"In my opinion, the general consensus among the JPs is we didn't feel there was enough time to get the budget numbers together, to vet them and discuss them and still have time to go to the voters in March. I wish we could have gotten it together but something this big takes time," he said.
Jones wants detailed architectural plans and cost estimates before going to voters. County Judge Bob Clinard said getting solid cost estimates can be done in 30 to 60 days. The time left to educate and inform voters would be very short if a March vote was sought, he said.
"This is August and I think I heard that we have to do something to call an election by December," Clinard said. "That gives you three months to do an educational campaign with the voters on the county's needs and the funding plan. That is a pretty tight time frame."
The decision at the state level to move the party primary election from May to March left the county with two less attractive choices -- have an election in March or wait until November, Clinard said. The county's experience with voters in pursuing funding for rural ambulance service does give grounds for caution, he said.
"It's longer than what I think we need, to go to November," he said. "But it's pretty quick to go March 1. Given the choice between those two dates, I don't think there's a need to rush. When we were doing the EMS issue we had a special election in February that failed. We didn't call for it, it was put on by petition. But there's some thought that it didn't give the people enough time to get informed. Then in November the voters approved the EMS funding."
Clinard will present his final plans for a courts building -- one plan to keep the courts in the downtown Bentonville area and one to relocate them to county-owned property on Southwest 14th Street near the Road Department and county jail -- at Thursday's Quorum Court meeting.
Downtown Bentonville business interests and the Walton Family Foundation have also presented a plan for a downtown building. The foundation has offered about $6 million in financial assistance to the county with about half that contingent on approval by the county of its plan or one "substantially similar."
"I will present the plans to them for potential funding," Clinard said. "Then the ball will be in their court. They can discuss it Thursday night or they can discuss it at another meeting. About all I have to say is here's the downtown plan I will support and here's the plan on (Southwest 14th Street) that I presented before. Choose between the two."
Susan Anglin, justice of the peace for District 9, agrees with the decision to skip the March 1 primary election, but she wants the county to get the planning done and develop a proposal to take to voters.
"There are too many unanswered questions we need to address before we get this to the voting public," she said. "We haven't chosen a design or a location or a funding method. I would hope we can have these resolved so we can have time to inform and educate the voters for November. If we push it further that's just pushing the project further in to the future. Every time we delay it we're just pushing it down the road and at some point it could cost us more money."
Barry Moehring, justice of the peace for District 15 and a candidate for county judge in the March 1 primary, said the lack of solid information justifies delaying the vote until November.
"I don't think we've made enough progress to date for a March decision by the voters," he said. "We've not made a decision on the plan, we've not made a decision on the location and we've not made a decision on the funding. I don't think it's imminent."
Moehring and Jones are concerned delaying the vote will delay revenue needed for the project if voters approve it. Voter approval in March would mean the county could start collecting a sales tax in July 2016. November approval would mean revenue would not begin to flow until April 2017, Jones said.
"That does bother me some because it keeps pushing the project back," Jones said. "That's another reason why, when we finally go to the public, we have to have a plan that's not going to change, that's a good plan and that we'll be able to present in detail. I think voters are going to want to be able to look at the plans for the building before they'll approve anything."
The county so far hasn't developed a coordinated plan for the project that gives a timetable for the choosing a site location, design, funding method and the election effort, Moehring said.
"I've advocated for a thought process that will include the entire cycle from planning for the site right on through the campaign," he said. "We should know where we are and where we need to be at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days from now. We're not thinking enough about that."
The county needs to get more people involved and thinking about the project now, not just after the proposal is completed, Moehring said. Outreach efforts to city governments, business and civic groups and community organizations already Moehring said be underway, he said. The county's circuit judges have spoke to some of these groups about the need for a new courts building, but more work is needed, he said.
"I don't think we do an adequate job of communicating with the people of the county about what we're doing," Moehring said.
NW News on 08/24/2015