County Stays Neutral

OFFICIALS DECLINE RESOLUTION ON HIGHWAY BOND

— Benton County’s justices of the peace passed up a chance Tuesday to take a position on the state’s proposed highway bond issue, with several saying they wanted voters to make up their own minds.

County Judge Bob Clinard asked the Quorum Court’s Committee of 13 to consider a resolution of support for the half-percent increase in the state’s sales tax that will be on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. The state legislature referred the proposal to a vote and it will on the ballot as Issue 1.

The proposal would increase the state’s sales tax from 6 percent to 6.5 percent, according to Justice of the Peace Dan Douglas, and the proceeds from the additional tax would pay for improvements to the state’s four-lane highway, with additional money being designated for use by cities and counties.

Douglas spoke in favor of the tax, but not necessarily in favor of having the Quorum Court formally support the issue. Douglas, who will take a seat in the state House of Representatives in January, said the program would greatly benefit Benton and Washington counties.

At A Glance

Committee Action

Benton County’s Committee of 13 met Tuesday and forwarded to the Quorum Court:

  • Approval and acceptance of a grant through the federal Environmental Protection Agency to translate environmental brochures, advertisements and paperwork into Spanish.
  • Authorizing the county judge to apply for a grant on behalf of the Maysville community for improvement to the Maysville Community Center.
  • Declaring aerial photography to be a professional service to eliminate competitively bidding for services.

Source: Staff Report

“About 24 percent of the money will be coming up here,” Douglas said. “It would six-lane (Interstate) 540 from Fayetteville to Bentonville. It would build the Bella Vista Bypass, at least to two lanes. It would build at least part of the (U.S.) 412 bypass around Springdale, over to where the Regional Airport is looking at building an access road.”

Douglas said he wants a plan to show residents how Benton County will use the money it’s projected to receive and Scott Stober, who oversees the county Road Department, outlined what he would propose for the $1,288,884 the county is anticipated to receive each year over the life of the tax, which is slated to end in 10 years or whenever the bonds are paid off.

Stober said his focus would be on increasing the amount of paving work done by the county, with the Road Department buying three dump trucks and hiring six truck drivers to haul the extra material needed. Stober said the county could pave an extra 95 miles of road with chip and seal paving over the 10-year life of the tax and could do 195 miles of “double chip and seal,” which is paving roads that are now dirt roads. The county could also do an extra 95 miles of asphalt paving over the 10 years of the program, he said.

Justice of the Peace Patrick Carr, questioned the basic information about the plan, saying he would not accept the estimates from the state about the money the tax would raise or the time it will remain in effect.

“There’s no guarantee we’re going to be done with this in 10 years,” Carr said. “If we have a couple down years in the economy, we could be paying this for 10 to 15 years.”

While several other justices of the peace said they supported the idea, no action was taken by the committee. Justice of the Peace Tom Allen said he favors the tax and will vote for it, but wouldn’t support a resolution from the Quorum Court.

“I don’t think that we, as a quorum court, ought to be supporting this or denouncing it,” Allen said. “I would like for us to be very careful about what we do or don’t do as a court. My personal opinion is I will vote for this.”

Upcoming Events