Sales Tax Numbers Concern Benton County Officials

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's sales tax revenue for the first quarter of 2014 is down by $205,992 compared with 2013, which worries some county officials.

The Finance Committee got the news April 1 in its monthly report on revenue. The county has received $1.62 million in sales tax so far this year. That's a 11.25 percent decrease compared with the same three months of 2013, according to the Accounting Office.

Meeting Information

Finance Committee

Benton County’s Finance Committee has a special budget meeting set for 6 p.m. April 22 in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave.

The monthly total dropped in each of those months as well, with January 2013 showing revenue of $540,832 and January 2014 having $521,857. In February 2013 the county received $665,999 and reported only $597,502 for the same month this year. In March 2013 the county received $623,430, and that dropped to $504,910 this year.

Washington County also has reported declining revenue from sales tax in 2014. According to information from the Treasurer's Office, sales tax revenue for the year through March is $41,957 less than 2013. For January, Washington County received $482,108 in 2013 and $483,415 in 2014. February's reports show the county received $560,453 in 2013 and $546,070 in 2014. For March, the county received $477,997 in 2013 and $448,997 in 2014.

Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4 and chairman of Benton County's Finance Committee, said winter weather may have caused the drop in revenue and milder weather will encourage residents to make purchases they may have delayed.

"We've been watching the sales tax intently, knowing it was potentially going to be an issue," Allen said. "I think the bad weather we had this winter may be the cause of it, and I'm hoping we're going to begin hitting what our budget was. If we maybe begin collecting at a rate that's about a 7 percent increase over last year we'll be alright. I want to see where that takes us. We're probably going to get one more bad report since the collections are behind. No one needs to expect anything positive next month."

Comptroller Sarah Wilson said sales tax revenue is received by the county two months after it's collected. The revenue reported in March represents taxes collected in January. Wilson said if the revenue were to increase 7 percent over the last eight months of 2014 the county would hit its budget projection. Benton County received $7.29 million in sales tax in 2013 and budgeted for $7.3 million this year.

Kurt Moore, justice of the peace for District 13, said he's less optimistic the county can recover from the poor start to 2014. He said he's less inclined to cite the winter weather as the cause of the decline. The county needs to be cautious about its spending until there's more certainty about revenue. He sponsored a resolution at the Finance Committee meeting to curtail spending, Moore said.

"The best-case scenario I can foresee is that we end the year $200,000 down," Moore said. "We can say the numbers were affected by the weather and that's probably part of it. But when we're down $200,000 in the actual receipts, that's a big, red warning flag. That was why I pushed for that resolution about not having any mid-year spending. What I'm seeing is our revenue for 2014 will be pretty much the same as 2013."

Barry Moehring, justice of the peace for District 15, said he's optimistic revenue can rebound from its slow start.

"We definitely have some ground to make up" he said. "What I'm hearing from businesses is that they had to tighten their belts to get through, but there's definitely a feeling of optimism, particularly among downtown businesses, that as the weather changes and events like First Friday come back I think there will be some pent-up level of demand."

The justices of the peace have said they plan to monitor the budget closely as they search for money to pay for rural ambulance service through the end of 2014. The decline in revenue makes it more imperative the county keeps spending down, Moore said.

"If, between now and the end of the year, we don't come up with a revenue stream for EMS our choices come down to adjusting the budget or taking it out of reserves," Moore said. "Taking it out of reserve is our last option. I think the elected officials better be ready to get their budgets cut."

County Judge Bob Clinard said his staff has reviewed the budgets under his office and found little to cut. He said the justices of the peace should consider taking money out of reserve to pay for ambulance service this year rather than cutting other services.

"We've looked at our budget and we don't have anything. It's cut to the bone," Clinard said. "They've already taken $27,000 out of my budget to fund other things. There's probably a few thousand dollars we could cut if we cut all travel and training, but that training is necessary to keep up the certification of our people. I've asked my people to look and come up with anything we can. If the Quorum Court wants the county to cut budgets and cut services to fund EMS then we're going to have cuts."

NW News on 04/06/2014

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