Tax split to favor Faulkner County sheriff's office fails

50/50 division onroads to continue

'I Voted' stickers are shown in this file photo.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette file photo)
'I Voted' stickers are shown in this file photo. (NWA Democrat-Gazette file photo)

Faulkner County voters Tuesday knocked down a tax split proposal that would have given the sheriff's office a larger piece of the county road sales tax fund.

The proposed split would have allocated 60% of the 20-year-old sales tax to the county sheriff's office, 35% to the county road fund and 2.5% each to the 911 system and the animal control department.

The tax has been split 50/50 between the sheriff's office and the county road funds since its inception.

Late Tuesday, unofficial results were:

Against 27,467

For 25,859.

"I'm disappointed that it failed, but the sheriff's department has always been very resilient," said Faulkner County Sheriff Tim Ryals. "We'll continue answering calls and doing our job for Faulkner County. Our county has outgrown our sheriff's department. We'll have to go back to the drawing board."

Jim Baker, the county judge of Faulkner County, was against the tax reallocation from the beginning when the Quorum Court at its Aug. 18 meeting approved the proposed ordinance to place the issue on the ballot.

"I'm just proud the election is over with," Baker said late Tuesday.

The tax has been divided 50/50 between the sheriff's office and the county road funds since its inception.

"I was for it because animal control is a growing problem in the county, and roads should see less wear and tear as fewer people are commuting to work these days," said Jon Parish, a Conway resident.

All nine mayors in the Central Arkansas county come out against the proposed tax change, with some city councils passing resolutions against the measure.

The Faulkner County Farm Bureau unanimously passed a resolution opposing the reallocation, and numerous local farmers and community business leaders joined forces with the mayors to create the organization, Keep Faulkner County Moving Forward, to defeat the tax split proposal.

"We're glad to see Faulkner County continues to support the allocation of the tax towards the infrastructure needs to support the growth of our county and the creation of jobs," said Robert McLarty, campaign consultant for the organization. "The vote tonight was a big statement that people approve of the way the money is currently being spent."

The group has maintained that the money is needed to support the county's growing infrastructure needs and to attract new businesses and industry.

Ryals said that same growth has stretched the sheriff's office past its limits. There are 30 sheriff's deputies patrolling nearly 650 square miles and more than 126,000 people.

The county must now find a different source to support the hiring of six new patrol positions, partially funded through a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services grant.

The grant funding would provide 75%, or $741,267, of the amount needed to hire the new deputies over a three-year period. The county has to cover the remaining $247,089.

The county also would need to fund those six new positions after the grant funding ends in three years.

The sheriff had also planned to use the increased tax revenue to pay for hiring six to 10 additional detention officers to staff the new maximum-security jail unit.

The push to redistribute the tax was first made by Faulkner County Justice of the Peace Steve Goode in an attempt to rearrange the existing tax revenue to meet the county's needs instead of going back to the voters to ask for a tax increase.

According to Faulkner County Treasurer Scott Sanson, the tax is projected to generate about $9.8 million for the county in 2020. Last year, $9.4 million was received from the tax.

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