Bisbee Backs Employee Raises

— Benton County’s justices of the peace were given a quick look at the 2011 budget Thursday night, with the first draft showing no pay increases for county employees or elected officials.

County Judge Dave Bisbee, who is leaving office at the end of December, briefed the Quorum Court on the county’s anticipated revenue shortfall from sales tax and property taxes. Despite that, Bisbee urged the justices of the peace to consider some pay increase for the county’s employees.

County comptroller Richard McComas gave the justices of the peace two possible revenue scenarios. In one, McComas projected a 5 percent drop in property tax revenue beginning in 2012 and only a 2 percent growth in sales tax revenue. In his second scenario, McComas showed the county’s projected revenue if property taxes drop by 10 percent while sales tax growth remains at 2 percent.

McComas said those projections were chosen because Washington County has experienced a 5.5 percent drop in its property tax revenue and Benton County will begin a countywide reappraisal process similar to Washington County’s next year. That would cut the county’s property tax revenue for 2012 and for the next several years.

“I’m not saying 10 percent is the worst case,” McComas said. “It could be more. Washington County went down 5.5 percent and based on their 5.5 percent it seemed like five percent and 10 percent were good numbers to use.”

McComas said Benton County won’t begin to have solid information on the possible decline in property tax revenue until July 2011

Bisbee said the Quorum Court has been prudently setting money aside the past two years expecting the 2010 Census results will lower the county’s share of the sales tax. The recent decline in property values was not planned for, he said.

BY THE NUMBERS

Projected Income

Benton County’s projected income with a 5 percent drop in property tax revenue beginning in 2012

2010: $42,333,777

2011: $39,571,842

2012: $38,688,952

2013: $38,655,810

2014: $38,925,005

2015: $38,896,584

2016: $39,170,594

Source: Benton County Comptroller

“I don’t think any of us can make a good projection of how large the shortfall is going to be,” Bisbee said. “What this court set aside was based on an expected downturn in sales tax. Nobody anticipated the real estate market going down the way it did. This is not a down spike. This is not a downturn in the economy that will turn around and our revenues will recover. It’s going to go down and then flatten out.”

Bisbee urged the Quorum Court to use caution in spending money from the county’s reserve for operating costs, saying that would only postpone the time when county government will have to be cut.

“You might as well start cutting government today,” he said.

Bisbee did say employees deserved some consideration, having gone without pay increases for the past two years.

“If there is any way possible, please at least look and try to find some way to give your employees something,” he said. “We’ve got 600 employees who come to work every day and work hard. Three years without a pay raise is a pretty hard pill to take.”

Justice of the Peace Bob Stephenson said employees are in the same boat as many others in not getting pay increases. People who depend on Social Security or disability have also gone without increases, he said, adding employees are still getting increased retirements benefits and have kept their jobs in tough times.

“I too appreciate the efforts of our employees,” Stephenson said. “But they are employed, many people are not.

McComas estimated a 1 percent pay increase for county employees would add $310,000 to the 2011 budget. Justice of the Peace Kurt Moore said one alternative to consider is a one-time bonus, which would not be an annual expense.

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