BENTONVILLE — Another rural ambulance service vote could succeed if Benton County takes more time and crafts a plan with care, Gravette Mayor Byron Warren said Tuesday.
Warren raised the prospect of sending a modified plan to pay for ambulance service to a second vote at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council.
Meeting Information
Public Safety Committee
The Quorum Court’s Public Safety Committee will discuss the ambulance service in Benton County when the panel meets at 6 p.m. March 12 in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building in Bentonville.
The council meets at least once a year to discuss matters of common concern among cities and the county. The ambulance issue was first raised at a council meeting several years ago when mayors cited a state law requiring mutually acceptable contracts be in place if they extend city services beyond their boundaries.
Warren said many voters said they opposed the plan because of the cost and Warren believes they didn't fully understand the issue.
"During the election, the money was a key factor," Warren said. "I don't know if the people really understood what the plan was and what they were voting on."
The effort to explain the measure to voters was inadequate, he said. The Quorum Court in September formed an emergency medical services district with an $85 annual fee to pay for ambulance service. A petition drive forced an election on the plan. The county sent a letter to voters and held public meetings before the election.
The negative reaction at most of those meetings and low election turnout told him the county needs to do more work to educate voters, Warren said.
"People were voting on emotion," he said. "They said it was a tax and they were voting against it. They didn't realize it was going for a good cause and the reasons to vote for it."
Warren suggested a modified plan with a lower annual fee, a contribution by the county and reduction in cities' demands. The law doesn't mandate any level of reimbursement, he said. Arguing over the detail of each city's cost only complicates the question, Warren said.
"I think the cities need to take what the county can give them and split it among the cities by run volume," Warren said. "I think that's the most realistic and the most fair."
Susan Anglin, justice of the peace for District 9, said the Quorum Court should consider Warren's suggestion, along with any other.
"I think we're going to see discussion about every possible scenario," Anglin said. "I don't think anything's off the table."
The council also briefly discussed the distribution of the road millage tax. Most of the smaller cities receive 50 percent of the money collected in their boundaries, but Rogers, Bentonville and Siloam Springs each get 90 percent, said Springtown Mayor Paul Lemke.
Bentonville receives $1.6 million a year from the levy, Rogers receives $2.1 million and Siloam Springs receives $365,000, Lemke said. The 90/10 split deprives the county of money to help resolve issues such as ambulance service, Lemke said. The unequal division is an issue of fairness, Lemke said.
"I think the county is basically getting choked, as are the smaller cities," Lemke said.
Sarah Daniels, comptroller, said after the meeting if the revenue were split evenly between the county and the cities the county would receive about $1.85 million annually.
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said the issue has been through the court system and decided by the state Supreme Court in favor of the cities. The case was decided in 2008, according to George Spence, county attorney. The Supreme Court held the county failed to meet its burden of proof the legislation setting the division of the tax revenue "lacked a rational relationship to any governmental purpose at the time the legislation was enacted."
NW News on 03/05/2014