JPs plan vote on optional dog tax

Canines roam Saline County

Saturday, January 5, 2013

— A Saline County Quorum Court committee is expected to approve a voluntary tax on Monday that the ordinance’s chief sponsor hopes will help the county deal with vicious stray dogs.

Josh Curtis made it his first point of business as a justice of the peace to propose an ordinance that will create an annual $5 tax that county residents can choose whether to pay.

“There’s been a problem with vicious dogs in Saline County, and there really hasn’t been a good system to take care of it,” Curtis said Friday.

The ordinance is scheduled to be voted on Monday at 6 p.m. during a meeting of the Public Works and Safety Committee at the Saline County Courthouse, 200 N. Main St. in Benton.

The full Quorum Court will vote on the proposed tax Jan. 15.

A measure designating a mandatory tax for the same purpose failed “miserably, by like 83 percent” when put before voters in 2008, said Justice of the Peace Mark Kizer.

Eight of the 13 justices of the peace have signed on as cosponsors of the ordinance with Curtis, meaning the measure is expected to pass.

County Judge Lanny Fite said the voluntary tax is needed to handle the county’s stray- and vicious-animal problem.

“A lot of people want to give to it, I know. It’s been talked about before,” he said. “We are one of two counties in the state that does not have a sales tax to operate on. [An animal-control service] is one of those things we could not fund if we wanted to.”

If passed, an option to pay $5 per year will be placed on each tax statement mailed to property owners in the county.

Justice of the Peace Tammy Schmidt said it should be appealing to county residents because payment is optional.

“We only had to call it a tax because it’s administered through county government,” she said.

“I’m hoping [community support] will be positive because” the vicious-dog situation needs remedied and because the tax is voluntary, meaning if people believe the service is needed they can pay for it, Schmidt said.

There have been at least two dog attacks in the county in the past two months. Saline County Sheriff Bruce Pennington said the office handled 65 reports in 2012.

“We are not in the business, per se, to answer all of these animal calls, but we do,” Pennington said.

Because unincorporated areas of the county aren’t served by city animal-control facilities, the sheriff’s office is called on to handle animal complaints.

Complaints rose after Pulaski County restricted ownership of pit bulls and several of the breed were dumped in Saline County, the sheriff said.

As much as half of Saline County’s population of more than 109,000 people lives in unincorporated areas, Fite said.

Quorum Court members said they hope the sheriff takes on operation of an animal-control service if the voluntary tax raises enough money for construction, personnel training and operation and maintenance.

“We are afraid to commit to too much until we see how much money it brings in,” Fite said.

The county has previously used a voluntary tax to fund a weather-warning system, he said.

“It generates about $70,000 a year.”

The sheriff’s office doesn’t have anyone trained to handle vicious animals, Pennington said, but he’s considered how his agency might provide the service.

“I think the voluntary tax is a great idea,” Pennington said. “It has always been an issue dealing with vicious animals.

“First, we don’t have the money with which to hire additional people for this service, and secondly, we have no place to house these animals once we pick them up.”

He has discussed a partnership with the Humane Society of Saline County that would allow the sheriff’s office to house animals there.

Kizer, who also serves as chief of the Bryant Police Department, said he plans to vote for the ordinance but is skeptical of the effectiveness of a voluntary tax.

“Our budget is tight right now. ... I don’t see how you can budget off of donations that might not be there next year,” said Kizer, who has served on the Quorum Court for eight years.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/05/2013