A vote of the City Council on Tuesday could bump Tontitown up to a city of the first class.
Arkansas classifies cities based on population. The classifications dictate how cities operate.
AT A GLANCE
Arkansas Municipalities Classification
• Municipal areas with less than 500 people are incorporated towns.
• Those with 500 to less than 2,500 people are cities of the second class.
• Those with 2,500 people or more are cities of the first class.
• Population used to determine classification must come from a federal census.
Source: Arkansas Code 14-37-103
The change would add stability to the city, said Mayor Jack Beckford.
"We've had too quick of a change-over in the city over the years," Beckford said. "We could split the recorder/treasurer job and make the treasurer a city employee."
The city went through six recorder/treasurers in a five-year period, Beckford said. The changes caused problems with the city budget, he said.
"You can hire a treasurer that has an accounting background and know they will be around," Beckford said. "It would be hard to draw up a budget each year when the treasurer hasn't done it before."
The change would also require an election if the mayor resigned with more than six months remaining in the term, according to an Arkansas Municipal League document on the major differences between classes of municipalities.
Officials at the league didn't return phone calls Wednesday.
Beckford was appointed mayor by the City Council when Tommy Granata resigned in January 2013.
City council members could be elected to staggered four-year terms if voters approved that change, according to the document.
"I don't think we would be so volatile with longer terms," Beckford said.
The city clerk, attorney and treasurer could also be elected to four-year terms, according to the document.
The mayor may also appoint a fire marshal, Beckford said.
Tontitown had a population of 2,460 in the 2010 U.S. Census, but the city has grown beyond that to reach the size of a city of the first class, Beckford said.
Arkansas law allows a city with a population of more than 1,500 to become a city of the first class by passing an ordinance. West Fork voted to move up early, according to Charles Rossetti, interim mayor.
The move happened so many years ago, Rossetti said, he's not sure what advantages came with the change.
Sunny Hinshaw, a City Council member, said she sees no reason to move up early.
"We can do it anytime," Hinshaw said. "After listening to what the mayor said, and reading about it in the Arkansas Municipal League handbook, I don't see any advantage for us."
The changes the mayor mentioned are already possible for cities of the second class, Hinshaw said, or would add more expenses to the Tontitown budget.
Rhonda Doudna, a Tontitown resident, said she plans to circulate a petition to have Tontitown residents vote on the change from second class to first class. Doudna said the proposed change is a result of a petition she's circulating asking the Tontitown Planning Commission be abolished.
"You have to have a Planning Commission with a city of the first class," Doudna said. "You don't with a second class."
NW News on 03/27/2014