FAYETTEVILLE -- A discussion about Quorum Court mileage reimbursement Monday evening became part of a larger debate over how much time and money the county government's legislative branch should cost.
Robert Dennis, a new Quorum Court member and Republican from Prairie Grove, voiced his frustration after the personnel committee's lengthy discussion on the Quorum Court's mileage reimbursement, which costs the county less than $8,000 a year out of a $58 million budget. Monday's back-to-back personnel and law enforcement committee meetings, the first of the new term, went from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Meeting information
The Washington County Quorum Court’s finance committee meets today at 5:30 p.m. in the county courthouse, located at 280 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville.
"Nothing's trivial, but at the same time I hate to see so many people having to sit through this," Dennis said, looking toward the handful of county employees and officials in the audience. Dennis pointed out Quorum Court members often attend committees they're not part of, stretching out meetings with their questions.
The practice can also cost more money. Justices of the peace get paid $200 for each day they attend a committee meeting even if they aren't members. Their salaries have risen in recent years partly because they've attended more meetings.
Dennis isn't a member of either committee and didn't speak before raising his concerns. Several members previously have said they attend other committees to get more detailed information about county proposals as part of their public service.
Dennis also wondered whether justices of the peace could talk before meetings to get easy questions out of the way. Other Quorum Court members pointed out the Freedom of Information Act requires all county-related discussion between them to take place during public meetings.
"This is exactly how we discuss this stuff and hash things out legally," said Butch Pond, a Republican who was elected personnel chairman Monday.
The discussion began with a proposal by county attorney Steve Zega to formalize how the Quorum Court members can be reimbursed for using their vehicles. He suggested paying only for the miles between the county courthouse in Fayetteville and justices' homes using the Internal Revenue Service's published rate, or about 58 cents per mile this year.
"It's up to y'all to decide," Zega told the Quorum Court, referring to the plan's details. "All I'm suggesting to you is that an unwritten policy is probably not the wisest way to do things."
Zega's proposal was tabled for more discussion after Eva Madison, Fayetteville Democrat, and others raised questions about how working from home and other details would affect their tax obligations. But Madison said she shared Dennis' concerns about the length and attendance of meetings.
She offered two possible solutions: not holding meetings back-to-back and holding usually monthly meetings less often. To this end, Madison has asked several department heads in the last few weeks if they could give reports every other month or quarterly.
Tom Lundstrum, Republican of Elm Springs, disagreed, saying splitting meetings could cost more money instead of saving it.
Dan Holtmeyer can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @NWADanH.
NW News on 02/10/2015