BENTONVILLE — Benton County property owners will have some added opportunities to get their assessments done before the May 31 deadline.
Assessor Bear Chaney will experiment with extended office hours at the main Assessor’s Office in the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville.
Beginning Feb. 28, Chaney will keep his office open from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday and fourth Thursday of each month through the end of May. Those days coincide with the regular monthly meeting of the Quorum Court’s Committee of the Whole and the regular Quorum Court meeting. With those meetings already scheduled and a deputy sheriff already assigned to provide security for the building, Chaney said he’s able to keep his office open with a minimum of difficulty.
At A Glance
State Law
Arkansas law requires all property owners assess their personal and commercial property between Jan. 1 and May 31 each year. Personal property assessments may be done in person at any of the county’s five offices, by phone and online as long as there are no changes. Commercial assessment forms are sent by mail to known businesses in the county. If you are a new business or an existing business and have not received an assessment form by the end of January, call the Assessor’s Office at 479-271-1087. A 10 percent penalty will be applied to all property (personal and commercial) not assessed by May 31.
Source: Benton County Assessor
The added hours are in response to suggestions from the public, Chaney said. He will see what the turnout is and decide if the effort will be repeated next year.
“The biggest thing for us is to try to help the citizens assess their property,” Chaney said. “That’s why last year and again this year we’re doing some offsite assessment days. The Assessor’s Office will have people at the Bank of the Ozarks in Bella Vista on March 19, at Lowell City Hall on March 21 and at the Bella Vista Business Expo on March 29.”
People can assess their property by phone and online if there are no changes or in person at any of the Assessor’s Office locations. The extended hours will be available only at the main Bentonville office, Chaney said.
Chaney plans to have three people from the office work during extended hours. Initially, two people will handle walk-in business and the third person will answer phones.
While the extended office hours are temporary, Chaney and county collector Gloria Peterson are studying a more permanent change. The state Revenue Office in Bentonville has moved to 2401 S.W. D St., leaving the county’s satellite locations of the Assessor’s and Collector’s offices at the space at 2308 S.E. 28th St. they formerly had shared with the Revenue Office.
Peterson and Chaney both said they think it’s important for the three offices to be conveniently located for taxpayers who routinely need to visit all three. Both said they will monitor the situation and see if the county needs to consider a move itself.
“I think it’s very important that they be together,” Peterson said. “The girls at my office have drawn a map so the taxpayers who don’t know where the Revenue Office is can find it. We’re just going to have to wait and see.”
Chaney said the county’s decision will depend in part on what the public chooses to do.
“Right now, we’re just waiting to see how the numbers go,” he said. “How many people are going to continue to use that office as opposed to the Poplar Street office or coming over here?”
County Judge Bob Clinard said he thinks the state should require the Revenue Office to work with counties to ensure the state office is convenient to the collector’s and assessor’s offices.
“I don’t know what the Revenue Office thinks about that, but there should be something in the law or in state policy,” Clinard said. “They didn’t even tell us they were going to move, we just found out. I think that whatever is best for the public is what they ought to do.”