Candidates Seek Treasurer Position

Voters will choose between a longtime incumbent and a political newcomer for Washington County treasurer.

The treasurer is responsible for distributing millions of taxpayer dollars to the county, cities and school districts, and traditionally provides revenue projections for the Quorum Court, which appropriates the county’s annual budget.

Springdale resident Russell Hill, a 39-year-old Republican political newcomer, is challenging incumbent Democrat Roger Haney of Fayetteville. Haney is serving his seventh term and is one of the longest standing full-time elected county officials.

“I think my background and training best describes my qualifications for county treasurer,” Haney said. “I’ve worked with the county for 34 years total. I worked a lot with the fi nances when I worked with (former) County Judge Charles Johnson. Since, I’ve been county treasurer for 14 years.”

Haney said his office cuts checks for county purchases, bills and to residents, such as those who serve on jury duty. Haney regularly works with the Association of Arkansas Counties and the Arkansas County Treasurer’s Association on legislative issues and sits of several boards, including the National Associationof Counties.

Hill, an accounts manager for a trucking and logistics company, said his business experience would bring value to the office.

“I think I’m going to bring energy and new ideas and a business sense to county government,” Hill said. “I’m involved in business. I think a lot of people who are in politics and government work sometimes forget what it’s like in the real world with issues like making payroll and making a profit.”

The payroll is calculated in the comptroller’s office supervised by the county judge’s office. According to state law, the treasurer must keep detailed records of all tax money received and distributed to the public and provide monthly financial reports to the Quorum Court.

Judy Beth Hutcherson, president of the Arkansas County Treasurer’s Association, said each of the state’s 75 counties can determine who makes annual revenue projections. Whether it’s done by the treasurer, county judge or a comptroller, the role of predicting revenue is crucial to the process, she said.

“It’s very important, because by law, you can’t spend more than you’re getting in ... . Most of the time the treasurers project the revenue, and we have to be very aware of the revenue that comes in through the year,” Hutcherson said.

The biggest challenge in making revenue projections comes from predicting property tax and sales tax revenue, Hill said. State law regulates a lot of the county’s revenue, Hill said.

“Property value and assessment is one of the major things to look at and also population growth ... . If you’re projecting that the population is growingat a certain percentage and it’s not, it’s less tax dollars. I would look at the history and where we’ve been and balance that with projected growth in the area as well,” Hill said.

The local economy aft ects sales tax revenue, Haney said. The county lost some of its part of the countywide 1 percent sales tax to some of its cities, such as Springdale, after the 2010 Census. However a growing economy and more sales tax dollars has cushioned the loss of revenue, he said.

“Every time we’ve done a census in 1990, 2000 and 2010, we’ve gone down in our percentage share, but it hasn’t hurt us too much because the sales tax revenue is growing,” Haney said.

“Our percentage, although it was less, was not as dire as it would have been if the economy hadn’t started growing back.”

Haney provides a monthlyanalysis of sales tax revenue for the county’s share of the 1 percent sales tax.

The county’s share dropped 18 percent to $5.6 million in 2011 from $6.7 million the year before.

Through September, the county’s tax revenue is $79,052 more, or 2 percent, than this time last year, according to Haney’s analysis.

Many on the Quorum Court, including Justice of the Peace Candy Clark, Finance Committee chairwoman, have repeatedly praised Haney for the accuracy of his conservative projections.

“All the money we handle are tax funds and/or fines and fees that we receive, some of which we get to keep here locally,” Haney said.

“We’ve got to make sure that we have those accounted for correctly so they can be audited and ensure the public the funds are taken care of.”

Hill spent about an hour with Deanna Ratclife, Benton County treasurer, in February learning about the duties of the office, she said. He also met Judith Miller, Sebastian County treasurer, early this year during a candidate training, she said.

Hill said his company has grown from six employees and $10 million profit in 2010 to starting this year with 30 employees and $20 million profit.

“I’m responsible for dealing with multiple accounts in the millions of dollars and making sure that we have accurate records, payments and receipts,” Hill said.

Haney
Haney

Profile

Roger Haney

Democrat

Age: 66

Residency: Fayetteville; Washington County resident for 42 years

Family: Wife, Mary; two children, three grandchildren

Employment: County Treasurer

Education: Master's in education, University of Arkansas

Military experience: None

Political Experience: Washington County treasurer since 1999; education liaison and speech writer for former Gov. Davis Pryor.

Hill
Hill

Profile

Russell Hill

Republican

Age: 39

Employment: Trucking and Logistics account manager with Leon Cannon

Residency: Springdale; lifelong Washington County resident

Family: Single; two children

Education: Fayetteville High School

Military: Navy, two years of enlisted service

Political: None

News, Pages 1 on 10/08/2012

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