FAYETTEVILLE -- A motion to raise the property tax back to the 2011 level failed Thursday night as justices of the peace continue to wrangle over the best way to use taxpayer money.
Justices of the peace continued to argue about how to put back money into unappropriated reserve, how much to put there and ideas for raising new revenue during a special Quorum Court meeting Thursday.
At a glance
Washington County justices of the peace continued Thursday night to argue about how to put back money into unappropriated reserve, how much money to put there and how to raise new revenue. The Quorum Court failed 8-6 raising the county’s millage rate on property Thursday. One justice of the peace was absent.
Source: Staff report
The county must try new ways to reduce spending, said Justice of the Peace Eva Madison, D-Fayetteville.
"We've been doing the same thing every year and expecting money to fall from the sky," Madison said.
Justices of the peace met for the second time this week to pore over financial records. The county is on track to spend about $3.7 million more than predicted revenue, according to the 2016 budget.
The county is about $1.8 million from being able to have $6 million in reserve, Madison said.
Washington County lawmakers said they hope taxpayers will donate money to the cash-strapped county and help pay for the Animal Shelter or other service.
Justices of the peace talked about ways to increase revenue -- including a millage increase or a sales tax.
The county has a 3.9-mill rate and can raise that to 5 mills, County Judge Marilyn Edwards said.
Justice of the Peace Ann Harbison, D-West Fork, said she is also working on ways to pay for a 2 percent employee pay raise and possibly pay to start building a juvenile courtroom.
Other ideas included a "voluntary tax," which was brought up Tuesday.
County Tax Collector David Ruff said Tuesday the county could ask property owners to pay a "voluntary tax" for specific services. The voluntary fee would be put on tax statements and be collected with property taxes, he said.
The idea of a "voluntary tax" isn't new for Arkansas counties, said Scott Perkins of Association of Arkansas Counties.
Counties continue to lose revenue as cities grow, Harbison said. More are asking property owners to voluntarily pay for specific services that otherwise might go unfunded, Perkins said.
The association doesn't have numbers tracking counties asking for a voluntary tax, Perkins said.
A voluntary tax in Benton County already supports ambulance service, a historical society and roads, said Collector Gloria Peterson.
Peterson wasn't at Thursday's meeting.
Last year, Benton County collected about $507,463 in voluntary taxes for all three of its target areas, said Melsine Carter, Benton County financial administrator. Between March 1 and Sept. 30 this year, the county collected $155,489 for roads alone, Carter said.
The donation amount is calculated based on mills instead of a flat fee, Carter said. A property owner with a $100,000 home would pay about $84 for more in property taxes, if he decided to pay, she said.
The deadline to pay property taxes is Oct. 15, so more money from voluntary taxes may come in this year, Carter said.
Justices of the peace tabled the idea late Thursday.
The idea is just one way justices of the peace are looking to make cuts, find savings and rebuild the reserve, justices of the peace said Thursday.
But not all were on board. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, said people can already donate. Asking people for money isn't good government, Madison said.
The general fund reserve started this year around $6.5 million but was at about $4.2 million last month, according to documents Thursday. The reserve may end up near the court's goal of $6 million, said Harbison.
To meet the $6 million goal this year, the county would still have to cut $1.8 million, said Eva Madison.
For comparison, many justices of the peace say they want reserve near or above $10 million, or about two months of average spending, in case of major emergencies.
But, worries over expenditures hasn't stopped the Quorum Court from buying vehicles, approving new personnel or a plan to open a collector's satellite office.
Edwards said Thursday she was worried the Quorum Court would have a lot of meetings, pass budgets but then find they can't pay for everything.
None of the approved budget items are binding until the Quorum Court approves the budget, said County Attorney Steve Zega.
Even so, justices failed to agree Thursday on a nonbinding goal for what they want to have in reserve.
At the same time, justices of the peace turned down a proposal to combine two budgets already under one department to save roughly $7,300. Several justices said they thought there should be a separation between comptroller and purchasing duties.
NW News on 10/09/2015