County Eyes Reserve Fund

Officials Discuss Options For Expanding Road Work Program

— Benton County can expedite its road program as long as the county keeps the recently approved 1/2 cent sales dedicated to road work.

County officials discussed several options for expanding the county’s road program at a recent meeting, including a proposal that would have taken county reserve funds to pay for additional road work in the next five or six years and then use the sales tax proceeds to replenish the reserve.

That option was taken off the table when state officials declined to give their approval, County Judge Bob Clinard said. But the county apparently can increase and reduce the annual subsidy from the general fund to the road fund without any objections from the state, according to Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville. Douglas first proposed the expanded road program before he left the Benton County Quorum Court at the end of December. Douglas said the response to the idea of using the sales tax proceeds to repay the general fund was uniformly negative, but no one objected to the county changing its annual subsidy.

At A Glance

County Roads

Benton County’s proposed 2013 road plan calls for the county to do 60 miles of paving for $1.7 million. County officials are eying a plan to add more paving and bridge repair work to the annual schedule by using county reserve funds to supplement the county’s share of the proceeds of the 1/2 cent sales tax approved by voters in November. Officials say the list of roads and bridges scheduled for work will be posted on the Benton County website at www.co.benton.ar.us.

Source: Staff Report

“I spent several days talking to everybody about the Road Department,” Douglas said. “The Department of Finance and Administration and the Association of Arkansas Counties, everybody said ‘No, you can’t do that.’ Then I thought all we’ve got to do is cut down on the transfer. We were making it harder than it had to be.”

Cindy Jones, county road coordinator, told justices of the peace at a recent meeting the Road Department’s normal schedule would include about 60 miles of paving. The Road Department could do as much as 90 miles of paving work in a year with optimum weather and with additional money, Jones said.

Jones and Scott Stober, county Public Services Administrator, developed a proposal for justices of the peace showing how the county could use money from the county’s share of the state’s 1/2 cent sales tax approved by voters in November. According to the plan, the county could add 15 miles of asphalt paving to its annual schedule by using the $1.2 million the county expects to receive each year. The county would spend about $895,000 on paving work and have an additional $400,000 from the tax revenue for additional bridge work.

If the county wanted to do an expanded road work over a six-year period, Jones said, an extra 25 miles of paving work could be added to the normal work schedule and an extra $655,000 would be allocated for bridge repair work.

County Judge Bob Clinard said taking money from the county’s reserve to quicken the pace of road work is something he will ask justices of the peace to approve. He said the benefits of doing the work now will be obvious.

“People are going to have better roads sooner,” Clinard said. “I believe we’ll be able to gear up and get those roads done for less money. Asphalt, materials and other supplies and costs are only going to go up. The sooner we can get them purchased, the better off we’ll be.”

Justice of the Peace Tom Allen, chairman of the Quorum Court’s Finance Committee, said he’s inclined to be a bit more cautious about taking money from the county’s reserve funds. He said he doesn’t think the current members of the Quorum Court can commit a future group of justices of the peace to any budget decisions.

“While I’d like to see increased funds for roads and to get more work done on our bridges, I need to get more comfortable with how the reimbursement is going to be handled,” Allen said. “I can see this as having a high risk of not being repaid. My worry is the intention to pay it back by having less funding for the roads later. I worry if that’s going to happen. I don’t know if any 15-member body is going to be that disciplined.”

Justice of the Peace Steve Curry, chairman of the Quorum Court’s Transportation Committee, acknowledged Allen’s concern has merit, but said he’s still in favor of moving ahead.

“You can’t predict what someone else might do,” Curry said of the future decisions of the Quorum Court. “We need to write it in such a way that it’s clear to everyone what our intent is. We have to balance if it’s worth the risk to get the roads done. I believe it is.”

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