BENTONVILLE — Voters in northeastern Benton County will decide July 9 if they will pay $100 a year per household for ambulance service instead of $40.
The Quorum Court approved on Thursday sending voters the question of increasing the fee charged in the Northeast Benton County Emergency Medical Services District. The court suspended its rules and authorized the fee increase, if approved by voters, at Thursday’s meeting. Typically, the Quorum Court would have such an item on its agenda for three meetings before voting on it, according to George Spence, county attorney.
Justice of the Peace Mike McKenzie, who sponsored the measure, said the suspension of the rules was needed to get the election scheduled in a timely manner.
“For the fee increase, if it’s passed, to be collected next year it has to be approved before Aug. 1,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie said the Northeast Benton County Fire Department, which operates the ambulance service in the district, has found itself unable to operate within the budget allowed by the $40 fee.
“They’ve been doing everything they can to keep the operation going, but they need more money,” McKenzie said.
According to the ordinance, the annual cost of providing ambulance service to the district has exceeded the $18,000 estimated when it was formed and the $140,000 cost estimate from 2007, when the fee was last increased. The ordinance states the $100 fee will increase the district’s annual budget to about $548,000.
The justices of the peace also unanimously approved spending an extra $1.5 million in 2013 for improvement to roads and bridges. The county originally budgeted $1.7 million for road work this year. After voters approved a statewide sales tax increase in November with cities and counties receiving a share to be used for transportation needs, the Quorum Court began debating how best to use the estimated $1.2 million Benton County will receive each year in the 10 years of the tax.
At A Glance
Court Action
Benton County’s Quorum Court met Tuesday and approved:
• Appointing Michael Caudill and Jerry Oliver to the 9-1-1 Administration Board
• Applying for $15,000 grant for security cameras for circuit and district courts
• Spending $25,000 from the Jail Maintenance Fund for security cameras for the Benton County Jail
• Accepting a $5,000 grant from Walmart to buy child safety seats
• Spending $16,000 to buy computer software
• An amendment to an ordinance retaining a $250 fee for private clubs and setting up a refund process for a businesses that may have been overcharged
Source: Staff Report
Dan Douglas, a former justice of the peace, proposed in December using sales tax revenue to expedite road and bridge work over a shorter period of time. The Road Department developed a plan calling for the county to transfer money from its reserve in the next six years to pay for the additional work and then using the sales tax revenue in the last four years of the tax to repay the reserve.
The justices of the peace balked at committing the county to any long-term plan and trimmed the amount being taken from the reserve.
For 2013, the county will use the estimated $420,000 in sales tax revenue plus $1.1 million from the county reserve to pay for added road and bridge work. Any proposals for subsequent years will be handled during the county’s normal budget process.
Also Thursday, the justices of the peace voted unanimously to pay $40,000 toward an environmental study to be done on the Illinois River, which flows through Northwest Arkansas into Oklahoma.
Arkansas and Oklahoma have agreed to a joint study of phosphorus levels in the river to examine standards Oklahoma is proposing for the river. Arkansas officials have questioned the validity of Oklahoma’s proposed standards and the supporting evidence and said meeting them could cost Arkansas cities millions of dollars and hamper economic growth in Northwest Arkansas.
Jeff Hawkins, director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said the joint study will be done in the next three years after the two governors appoint a six-member commission to select a company to do the work.