Washington County backs budget request

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Washington County Quorum Court gave first-round approval to hundreds of thousands of dollars in new voting machines, road equipment and assessor services next year, which could benefit county residents but leave an ever tougher job for officials hunting for budget cuts.

Monday evening the Quorum Court took a first look at equipment and personnel requests from a handful of county departments, just a small piece in the ongoing discussions on how the county will spend roughly $60 million in taxpayer money next year. The decisions could still change from now until the final budget vote that's expected in November or December.

The biggest winning request came from the Election Commission, which organizes all general and special elections. It asked for $420,000 for new and more reliable touch-screen vote machines and ballot counters. The money would supplement about $1.5 million from the Arkansas Secretary of State sometime next year to replace decade-old technology.

Jennifer Price, election coordinator, said the fleet of new machines would give faster results and allow the county to switch completely to vote centers instead of polling places, allowing voters to cast ballots at any voting place they want.

"That's the future that we see for elections in Washington County," she said.

The machines and other increases the commission wants swell the commission's overall budget request to almost $1.1 million, though about a third would be reimbursed by cities and school districts holding votes. The budget would be about twice what it was in the last presidential election.

The commission feared it would be a tough sell for the Quorum Court, which is looking to cut possibly millions of dollars in spending to shore up the county reserve for emergencies and big projects. This year's budget slashed nearly all capital requests from departments for new vehicles and equipment.

But the justices of the peace voted overwhelmingly to give the equipment money, with only Tom Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, voting against without comment.

"This is what reserves are for, I think," said Eva Madison, D-Fayetteville, who often pushes for budget cuts. "I can't think of anything more important than election integrity."

The justices of the peace unanimously cleared a proposal from the county assessor to open up a satellite office in the Fayetteville Revenue Office on Razorback Road, which provides driver's licenses and other services. The office would allow someone to take care of assessing a car, paying its tax and getting a license all at once, said Assessor Russell Hill.

"We're really excited about that," he added, noting Springdale and Lincoln already have this kind of office. Making assessor services more accessible was one of Hill's campaign promises last year.

The justices also passed about $380,000 for new dump trucks, a new brush hog and other needs at the Road Department. Despite the requests' size, the department's overall request for next year would drop by $44,000 to $8.56 million.

The Quorum Court denied a requested $500,000 increase for Computer/Information Systems. The request would help propel the department's spending to more than $1.7 million and provide two new analysts, a replacement truck and $350,000 in new fiber-optic cables.

"We connect everybody," director John Adams said, adding his office's support for other departments saves the county tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The replacement truck bothered some justices who have criticized the county's practice of providing take-home vehicles to dozens of employees. Madison said the department had no reason for its three vehicles. Adams countered the vehicles were compensation for valued employees.

Even when the new truck was taken off of the request, the Quorum Court voted against the entire package.

NW News on 10/06/2015