Fayetteville passes 2016 budget, affirms Gulley Park agreement

FAYETTEVILLE -- The city will devote more taxpayer money next year to parks and public safety under the 2016 budget the City Council approved unanimously Tuesday.

The aldermen easily cleared the $147 million balanced budget, which is up slightly from this year's and includes money for about two dozen new or unfilled police officer, firefighter and other types of positions in a workforce of almost 800. Tuesday's meeting also brought council votes reaffirming a non-profit's use of Gulley Park land.

At a Glance

Fayetteville 2016 budget highlights

• Total: $147.3 million, up 1 percent

• General Fund (including police and fire, community planning, library assistance and other expenses): $41.4 million, up 8 percent

• Water and Sewer: $37 million, down 6 percent

• Recycling and Trash Collection: $11.1 million, down 12 percent

• Parks Development: $3.2 million, up 39 percent

• Parking: $1.6 million, up 4 percent

Source: City of Fayetteville

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Mayor Lioneld Jordan's administration first presented the budget to council members during a work session during the weekend that laid out where each dollar of sales and property taxes, city fees and other revenue would go. Three days later, the aldermen approved it without debate.

"I think this is one of the best budgets I've seen come forward -- of course, we're not in a recession this time, so that makes it easier," Alderman Matthew Petty of Ward 2 said.

The new personnel include a 10-firefighter company in the city's core and a six-officer police beat. Fayetteville's planning, budget and parks departments would also get more people. All of them will help the city cope with bigger workloads, officials have said.

The council approved a 1-mill property tax increase in October to help pay for the boost, adding $30 a year to the city's property tax on a $150,000 home.

Besides new personnel, the budget would send hundreds of thousands of dollars more toward public parks and parking while lowering spending on street work.

The package doesn't count projects already begun, which tally up to around $70 million, chief financial officer Paul Becker told the council Tuesday. The council might also approve a raise for employees in the spring after this year's books are closed.

After sailing through the budget, the City Council heard an appeal of the permit for Apple Seeds to lease about 2 acres of Gulley Park for an expanded teaching farm facility. The organization aims to get schoolkids and their families more interested in healthful food and living and maintains a smaller farm near Ozark Natural Foods.

Apple Seeds is buying the house at 2648 N. Old Wire Road and will hold more public programs as part of the deal. The land and house are part of 11 acres the city bought last year to expand the park.

Kevin Phillips, who owns one of the houses next door, appealed the agreement with the help of Aldermen Justin Tennant and Martin Schoppmeyer of Ward 3 and John La Tour of Ward 4. The family that sold the land to the city, Mary Lou Dunn and her late husband, Allen "Sonny" Dunn, wouldn't want a farm there, Phillips said.

"I know that for a fact," said Phillips, who said he grew up there and knew the Dunns well. His sister died in a fire at the house early this year, Phillips added. He said he hasn't been able to sell the land and said a potential buyer pulled out because of the Apple Seeds project. Phillips also said he never received the mailed notice of the pending agreement.

Several others spoke highly of Apple Seeds' impact, saying children become more enthusiastic about farm-grown food after their hands-on school field trips to the teaching farm.

"We hear that every day," said Dana Smith, environmental education coordinator for Fayetteville Public Schools and a donor to the Gulley Park expansion effort. "In the long run, this actually greatly benefits the community."

Most aldermen said they sympathized with Phillips' plight but supported the group's work. Only La Tour voted to grant the appeal.

NW News on 11/18/2015

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