Beginning Nov. 1, Cammack Village households will see an additional $20 fee collected on their water bills to fund a fourth full-time police position and the upkeep of the small city's park, pool and tennis courts.
The Cammack Village City Council unanimously approved the creation of an urban service district, which allows for the new fee to be collected on each household for 10 years, at a meeting last week. More than 60 percent of voters signed a petition in favor of the tax.
Mayor Dave Graf proposed the fee in February and started collecting signatures in May.
Cammack Village, which is home to about 800 residents, doesn't benefit from local sales-tax revenue because no businesses are located in its perimeters. The city, near the Heights neighborhood in Little Rock, is south of Rebsamen Park Road and is bordered by North University Avenue to the east, Waverly Drive to the south and Crouchwood Road to the west.
"Nobody, including me, likes to spend money if they don't have to, but we were really getting tight on funds and this is a way to improve and maintain our police protection and then spruce up Baker Park and the pool and tennis courts, and things that need some attention. Before this, we honestly didn't have the means to do that," Graf said in a phone interview after the council vote.
The city has an annual budget of about $500,000. The new urban service district fee will add about $96,000 per year in revenue, based on estimates that assume there are approximately 400 households in the city's borders.
Each household -- including renters -- will be billed the urban service district fee on their water bills from Central Arkansas Water. No tax or franchise fee will be levied on top of the $20.
The ordinance authorizing the fee states that $55,000 of the estimated $96,000 to be collected each year will fund safety and security, including salaries, equipment and supplies for the police department.
Right now, Cammack Village employs two full-time officers and a police chief. Part-time officers sometimes fill in when needed or when the full-time staff is on vacation. With the funds from the new fee, an additional full-time officer will be hired.
Police Chief Peter Powell said the new officer would bring the department back in line with pre-recession staffing. The department -- which responds to about 250 calls of service yearly -- was decreased by one full-time position in 2010 after the economic downturn.
"Since then, we've had some open spots as far as 24-hour coverage. We have a lot of periods where we just have an officer on call. Now, we will have 24-hour coverage," Powell said. "When you got someone on call, it may take them 45 minutes to respond. I'd much rather have someone riding around the corner in a car that can either prevent crime or at least respond in a timely manner."
The remaining portion of the revenue collected from the fee will go toward maintenance and administrative costs.
The maintenance and improvement of Baker Park is allocated $15,000 yearly; the pool is allotted $10,000; the tennis courts $5,000; and general ground and City Hall maintenance will get $5,500. Another $5,500 will go toward collection fees paid to Central Arkansas Water and legal and accounting fees.
The early version of the fee proposal called for a $30 monthly fee and the construction of a walking trail. There was ample opposition to the construction of the walking trail and the higher fee, resulting in the compromise of $20 per month.
Metro on 08/17/2015