Tontitown Council Mulls Cuts, Fire Contract

TONTITOWN -- Newly elected Tontitown aldermen talked Tuesday about ways to save money in the face of mounting bills, shrinking reserve and the looming cost of ambulance service.

"Our funds are very limited," said Mayor Paul Colvin at the City Council meeting. "We do not have the money to pay what we are spending."

At A Glance

Council Action

Tontitown’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:

• Changing meeting times to 7 p.m.

• Stop using the Phone Time Card Clock-In and Out Program.

• Establishing a protocol for communicating with the city attorney.

• Doing away with the position of Information Technology administrator consultant, which had been filled by Mick Wagner.

• Changing the Water and Sewer Committee to a department.

Source: Staff Report

Meeting Tuesday

Tontitown aldermen plan a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to consider more issues, including fire service and staff pay and position freezes.

Source: Staff Report

Colvin said the city recently had to transfer money to cover bills after realizing checks were written without the money to cover them. Reserve has shrunk from nearly $2 million about two years ago to about $500,000, he said.

At the same time, Tontitown is facing having to pay about $250,000 for ambulance service, Colvin said. Alderman Joe Edgmon said the city must make cuts or find revenue to cover about $300,000.

"This body has some really, really tough decisions to make this month," Colvin said.

The council presented a long list of items Tuesda linked to budget concerns, said Arthur Penzo, alderman.

Aldermen approved a resolution to reduce overtime costs from employees by discontinuing the city's phone clock-in and clock-out system.

Employees had about 150 hours of overtime last year, Doudna said.

Police Chief Kristopher Arthur said the call-in system allowed for more accountability and tracked where employees were when they clocked in for work.

Treasurer-Recorder Alicia Collins said repealing the system will not fix the problem of expensive overtime costs.

Other items were tabled or rescheduled for a special meeting set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, which will be followed by a work session dedicated to the budget.

Items expected to be ready for vote during next week's meeting includes a contract with the Tontitown Area Volunteer Fire Department for fire services, Penzo said. Aldermen said after the meeting Tuesday they weren't ready to discuss details of the ordinance.

Tontitown discontinued its contract with the department last year and started its own Fire Department this year.

NW News on 01/07/2015

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