FAYETTEVILLE — Washington County Quorum Court members could be using $1.07 million in new sales tax revenue approved by voters in November to pay for bridge replacements, road asphalt and not public transportation.
The Finance and Budget Committee tentatively approved a new budget Thursday to track spending of the estimated $1.07 million given to the county in 2014 from the new state highway sales tax revenue. The Quorum Court will approve the budget later this year.
The idea to track spending came from Justice of the Peace John Firmin earlier this month when Quorum Court members reviewed revenue estimates in 2014.
“What I’m trying to do is let people know that, yes, that money is working for you instead of having it disappear into another (budget),” Firmin said Tuesday.
County Judge Marilyn Edwards supervises the Road Department. Shawn Shrum, assistant road superintendent, presented a spending plan showing $514,000 to replace two bridges on Stonewall Road and Greasy Valley Road west of Prairie Grove, $150,000 to purchase used bridge beams and the remaining $409,520 to asphalt “various roads.”
All committee members voted for the spending plan except Justice of the Peace Eva Madison. Madison, who represents Fayetteville, said many of her constituents don’t use rural bridges or county roads but use public transportation.
Madison said she was expecting a proposal to come from Mike Malone, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
“Mike Malone, I know, has reached out to several folks on the court including me about the council’s request to use some of this money,” Madison said. “They’ve been working with Ozark Regional Transit.”
County voters in May 2012 defeated a local sales tax proposal seeking more than $7 million annually for public transportation to be partly used to expand bus routes operated by regional transit. The Quorum Court approved the election be placed on the ballot after three months of debate involving large numbers of constituents for and against the proposal.
The council opposed the local sales tax revenue last year. Instead, it pitched to the public using a portion of the state highway tax revenue given to counties to support regional transit projects. Madison reminded the committee of that proposal.
Candy Clark, committee chairwoman, initially said no one advocating for public transit has asked for portions of the revenue. Clark later said during the meeting Malone asked her for 20 percent of the $1.07 million revenue and also asked Edwards for 24 percent.
Money for public transportation could come from general fund revenue, Clark said.
“I had hoped he had been there today, but then again, he doesn’t have to be,” she said. “We can consider this any time we choose to consider this. One of the things I told him is when he comes to talk to us, we need to see a plan for the county. What’s the county going to get?”
Malone said he didn’t know he was expected at Tuesday’s meeting. Off cials from regional transit planned to approach the committee Oct. 8 to request money, he said.
“I talked to a lot of elected officials in the jurisdiction of the ORT board about dedicating 20 percent of the new revenue,” Malone said Tuesday evening after the meeting.
Regional transit’s board includes representatives from Washington, Madison and Benton counties and also Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville.
Justices of the Peace Ron Aman, Tom Lundstrum and Harvey Bowman said they don’t support giving money to public transportation in the county now.
Firmin and Justice of the Peace Barbara Fitzpatrick said they would be open to hear a proposal from transit advocates to receive money from the county. Madison said she didn’t support using general fund revenue because voters were told public transit money would come from the state highway tax.
“I think our endorsement this early in the process of all of it going to roads and bridges is perhaps contrary to what we helped perpetuate among voters,” Madison said. “I think we owe it to the people that approved the sales tax to slow it down a little bit and say we need to adequately consider transit in this calculation.”
The committee rescheduled the review of Edward’s road budget because the budget given to committee members was incorrect, Clark said.