BENTONVILLE — Benton County will move the Gravette office shared by the county assessor and collector and the state Revenue Office within the next few months and is considering changes for satellite offices in Rogers and Bentonville.
The county assessor and collector share space with the state Revenue Office to facilitate the driver’s license renewal process. County residents can visit the single site to renew their vehicle licenses instead of having to go to three different locations to obtain proof they have assessed their property and are current on their property taxes so they can obtain new car tags.
Web Watch
Online Assessment
Benton County offers residents the option of assessing their personal property online. For more information, go to www.bentoncountyar.gov.
Benton County Judge Bob Clinard said the county has started interior work on the new office space in Gravette and plans to move before the end of the year. County Assessor Bear Chaney said the move may be made around the rush of business for the County Collector’s Office.
“We can be ready to move anytime,” Chaney said. “The folks in the Collector’s Office start to get real busy with property tax collections in September and October so they may not want to move just then.”
The county is now in an office at 108 No. 1 N.E. Main St. in Gravette. The new office will be at 901 First Ave. SW.
Clinard said the current office space restricts the efficient operation of the offices.
“There is very limited parking at the office and no handicapped accessibility,” he said. “We’re going to relocate into a new facility on South Highway 59. It’s in a ‘spec building’ that was brought to our attention by someone who heard we were looking at moving. It seems like an extremely convenient location with ample parking, and the Revenue Office is going to pay some of the rent, which they’ve never done before.”
The old building in downtown Gravette was hampered by the high sidewalks that some people had trouble using and the lack of parking, Chaney said.
“We had people who had to park and walk for blocks and then they couldn’t get up the steps,” he said. “The new office is just across the street from a Walmart Market and there’s a Sonic nearby. City Hall is not too far from there. It seems like it’ll be more convenient for everybody.”
Gravette Mayor Byron Warren said he wishes the offices could remain downtown, but understands the needs of the county and appreciates the decision to remain in Gravette.
“I hate that it moves off Main Street, but in the end the county has to do what’s best for the county,” Warren said. “I don’t blame them. It’s a new building. I’m glad that they’re staying.”
The added traffic was a boon to the city’s downtown businesses, Warren said.
“It’s going to hurt our Main Street,” he said. “It brought more traffic to Main Street and this takes it away.”
Clinard said the county also is considering what to do with the assessors and collectors office space on Southeast 28th Street in Bentonville and at 300 W. Poplar Street in Rogers. He said the state has moved its Revenue Office to a new location on Southwest D Street in Bentonville, reducing the usefulness of the 28th Street location. In Rogers, the county faces a parking crunch that will only worsen, Clinard said.
“The Revenue Office did not coordinate with us as to the location of their facilities,” Clinard said of the Bentonville site. “They had apparently had problems with the 28th Street location, but they didn’t contact us to see if we could move too. They just moved out.”
The departure of the Revenue Office has reduced the traffic at the 28th Street office by about 100 people per week, Clinard said. At the same time, he said, traffic has increased at the Rogers office by about the same amount.
Clinard said the county is considering closing the 28th Street office and expanding or relocating the Rogers office to handle the additional traffic. He said the county has discussed the current location that it leases from the city for $1 per year since an adjacent building is up for sale. That would provide additional office space and more parking, he said. The county is also looking at other space in Rogers if an expansion proves impractical.
Chaney said his preference now is to close the 28th Street office and expand the office in Rogers.
“We want to make it as convenient for the citizens, the taxpayer, as possible,” he said.