Deciding that the timing wasn't right, the Maumelle City Council on Monday night indefinitely delayed a proposed reduction to a monthly community service fee for residents that would have taken away $81,000 in revenue from next year's city budget.
The proposal to reduce the $6 monthly fee for residents -- charged as $18 quarterly on the city's trash bills -- would have decreased the monthly fee by $1 beginning Jan. 1, and the fee would have gone down another $1 each year until it was eliminated. By the time the fee was completely gone, the revenue loss would have been $486,000 annually.
Aldermen John Vaprezsan, who made the motion to postpone, Rick Anderson, Marc Kelley, Ken Saunders and Marion Scott -- one of the legislation's four co-sponsors -- voted for the postponement. Aldermen Jess Holt, Steve Mosley and Preston Lewis, the other co-sponsors, voted against postponing.
The reduction would only have affected households. The fee would have remained for commercial businesses based on the square footage of the business.
Officials did not present a method to replace the lost revenue. The fee was established in 1985 when Maumelle incorporated as a city to help fund its fire and police protection. The 2006 City Council approved reducing the fee over a five-year period from what was then a $30 charge per quarter.
"I think this may be an inappropriate time to do in mid-season," Vaprezsan said, referring to the yearly city budget cycle, then added that the council should wait until after its next budget discussions in the fall.
"I'd like to wait till we go through another budget cycle," Scott said, also speaking for postponement. "We can easily bring it back up in January and vote at that time."
Kelley reminded the council that, in approving the 2015 city budget of $11.4 million in December, it reduced the budget by about $450,000 from last year's total, though it now has a $900,000 surplus projected by the end of this year. But, he added, putting back the money it cut should be the priority instead of reducing city revenue.
"Now is not the right time," Kelley said. "That money [lost] mounts up very quickly."
Saunders agreed, saying that "just because revenue is up this year does not mean it will be up two years from now or five years from now. We've got to be realistic here."
Holt countered that "it never seems like the right time," adding that eliminating the community service fee has been discussed in years past by previous councils.
"I believe, as a city, we have to take a stance," Holt said, adding that replacement revenue can be found. "We can do it if we want to do it."
The community service fee has been unpopular, with many residents neglecting to pay it. In August last year, one estimate presented to the City Council said that delinquent revenue was as much as a $190,000 annual loss to the city.
Metro on 07/07/2015