FAYETTEVILLE — Washington County high school students Austin Hamm of Elkins and Lauren Cheevers of Greenland stood just a few feet away from the Quorum Courtroom entrance bearing big smiles as they shook the hands of justices of the peace, county employees and other members of the public before the county’s monthly meeting.
Student politicians themselves, the pair belong to the county’s 4-H Club and arrived with staff of the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service.
By The Numbers
2012 Real estate/personal property millage
w Washington County general 3.9 mills
County road 1.1 mills
County library* 1 mill
w Cities
Fayetteville 3.1 mills
Springdale 8.2 mills
Elkins 5 mills
Greenland 2.9 mills
West Fork 5 mills
Winslow 3 mills
Farmington 5 mills
Tontitown 2 mills
Elm Springs 5 mills
Johnson 5 mills
Prairie Grove 6.5 mills
Lincoln 6.5 mills
Goshen No mills
w School districts
Fayetteville 46.65 mills
Farmington 42.6 mills
Elkins 44.2 mills
Prairie Grove 36.9 mills
Lincoln 42.7 mills
Springdale 40.5 mills
Greenland 39.5 mills
West Fork 38.6 mills
- To be collected throughout the county except for property within the Fayetteville city limits.
One mill is a library millage and is to be collected only inside the Fayetteville city limits; 2.1 mills are for all other legal purposes.
Source: Washington County
They sat at the Quorum Court meeting as they heard legislative procedures dealing with county finances. They left just before justices of the peace adopted property taxes for 2012 in order to attend a different meeting.
The extension service staff teach leadership, citizenship and other skills students will use throughout their lives, according to its website. Hamm, a state officer at large for 4-H, said he was amazed at how quick justices of the peace adopted resolutions and ordinances.
“I’m starting to get used to it being on the state level myself,” Hamm said. “We go pretty fast. How they can go through it so smoothly, so quickly is pretty amazing.”
Moments earlier, Justice of the Peace Tom Lundstrum explained to the public most of the Quorum Court’s discussion on county legislation happens at the committee level.
Berni Kurtz, extension agent and staff chairman, reported to the Quorum Court some of the activities done by the cooperative service.
“Our programs we do come from grassroots efforts,” Kurtz said. “We just don’t make up things. We have various citizens participate in hearing sessions. They tell us what their concerns are and prioritize those concerns. We respond to those local concerns.”
Extension agents will travel to cattle fields to educate farmer or hold classroom sessions on a variety of topics, Kurtz said.
Justice of the Peace Butch Pond, a farmer himself, said the education provided by the service to county residents is valuable.
“As environmental laws become more complex and numbered, I can’t tell you how much the extension office does to assist people in the farms and the cities,” Pond said. “They assist these people, educate us and help us to learn how to learn how to comply with and cope with regulations and laws.”
Federal law created the roots to grow the cooperative extension service throughout the country’s counties for almost 100 years, he said.
Extension agents work in a county-owned building on North McConnell Avenue. The University of Arkansas owns the land, he said. The county pays for utilities and building upkeep, he said. Volunteers and university landscapers groom the land.
As a 4-H member, Cheevers said she participated in a national competition parliamentary procedure. Following the Quorum Court’s business was not difficult, she said.
“At least we understand it having been through parliamentary procedure,” she said. “We understood what was going on and it helped.”
Moment after they left, justices of the peace unanimously adopted the 2012 real estate and personal property millage rates. The county’s rates remained the same from 2011.
The rates will be applied in 2013 by the county assessor before sending out property tax bills, said George Butler, county attorney.