Benton County Quorum Court To Vote On Raises

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace will consider boosting their own pay after going without an increase since 2009.

The Committee of the Whole recommended increasing pay for the justices of the peace as part of the county's 2015 budget that is set for final approval by the Quorum Court on Thursday. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building. The December meeting has been moved up a week because of the Christmas holiday.

At A Glance

Justice Of The Peace Pay

Benton County justices of the peace are considering raising their pay beginning in 2015. State law sets minimum and maximum pay for justices of the peace. For class 7 counties, the state’s most populous counties that includes Benton County, the maximum annual pay rate is $13,319. Benton County now pays its justices of the peace $350 per month for Quorum Court and Committee of the Whole meetings plus $100 for attending committee meetings if the justice of the peace is a voting member of the committee. The proposed raises would increase the pay for Quorum Court and Committee of the Whole meetings to $200 and all other committees to $125. Pulaski County pays its justices of the peace $11,106 per year. Washington County pays its justices of the peace $200 per diem and Sebastian County, a class 6 county, pays its justices of the peace $6,679 per year.

Source: Association of Arkansas Counties

The proposal being considered will raise the pay for Quorum Court and Committee of the Whole meetings from $175 to $200. Justices of the peace also will be paid $125 rather than $100 for attending meetings of committees they are members of. The overall cost to the county is estimated at about $16,425 by Brenda Guenther, comptroller.

Guenther said the average pay for justices of the peace would increase from about $6,180 to about $7,275, based on the monthly meetings of the Quorum Court and Committee of the Whole and 33 other committee meetings throughout the year. Those costs are for meetings only. Mileage and other expenses are added costs. The county's 2015 budget for the Quorum Court, if the raises are approved, will increase from $92,700 to $109,125.

The raises failed to gain approval from the Finance Committee, stalling when the justices of the peace split 3-3 when it was brought to a vote. The issue was brought to the Committee of the Whole as a discussion item and that panel recommended it be included in the 2015 budget on a 9-3 vote. Justices of the Peace Kurt Moore, Steve Curry, Michelle Chiocco, Mike McKenzie, Kevin Harrison, Pat Adams, Shirley Sandlin, Patrick Carr and Brent Meyers voted in favor of the raises. Tom Allen, Barry Moehring and Jay Harrison voted against the raises.

Allen said he was unhappy the measure was brought forward after it failed to gain a recommendation from the Finance Committee, where he serves as chairman. Beyond that, he said he has mixed feelings on the question.

"I'm torn. I can see both sides," Allen said. If you put it in perspective you can easily see the Quorum Court members are very much behind the others in the state and locally."

George Spence, county attorney, said state law sets minimum and maximum limits on pay for justices of the peace. The minimum is set at $125 per diem for meetings and the maximum varies according to county population. Counties with populations of more than 200,000, like Benton County, have a maximum compensation limit of $13,319.

According to Scott Perkins, communications director with the Association of Arkansas Counties, Pulaski County sets its compensation for justices of the peace at $11,106 annually. Craighead County pays its justices of the peace $684 per month, while White County pays its justices of the peace $607 per month. Other counties set per diem rates ranging from the minimum of $125 in several counties to as much as $500 in Phillips County.

The growth of Benton County has increased the work of the Quorum Court, Allen said.

"We've had some contentious issues in the last few years, he said, pointing to the rural ambulance service as one. "We've had a lot of meetings. On the other hand, I'd have to say the timing was bad. It's never a good time to give yourself a raise, but we didn't address this during the year because we didn't think there would be money for employee raises, let alone JPs."

Moore said he favors the raises. The justices of the peace last increased their pay in 2009 and went several years before that without any increase as well. He said he would support putting cost-of-living raises for county employees and elected officials on a more regular basis through a county ordinance, with justices of the peace and other elected officials getting the same increases as employees, to avoid the need for larger increases after several years of no action.

"That would need to be a cost-of-living increase only," Moore said. "The 1 percent or 2 percent COLAs we'd want that to apply to everybody. As far as merit pay, that would be for employees only."

Allen said he's willing to consider cost-of-living increases for justices of the peace and other elected officials, but only after the question has been debated in committee next year and settled before the county's budget process.

"I think it has merit and it should be discussed early in the year next year," he said.

NW News on 12/15/2014

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