Benton County officials eye court building financing

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace plan to choose a funding plan for the county's proposed courts building at Tuesday's Finance Committee meeting.

Tom Allen, District 4 justice of the peace and committee chairman, said he will encourage other members of the panel to agree on one plan to pay for the $30 million building. Justices of the peace have looked at several options and Allen said the choices will be forwarded to the April 10 meeting of the Quorum Court Committee of the Whole.

Courts building

Benton County’s justices of the peace will continue discussing how to pay for a $30 million courts building when the Finance Committee meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Quorum Courtroom in the County Admnistration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville. The county hopes to have a funding proposal on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

Source: Staff report

"I'd prefer to have a consensus on one option," Allen said. "If we weren't able to narrow it down to one we might send two options on to the Committee of the Whole. I wouldn't want to move anymore than that. My goal for the meeting is to come up with one option."

Justices of the peace voted last month not to consider any increase in the road millage or using fine and fees as a sole source of funding. The remaining options include a temporary sales tax, budget cuts, or a combination of funding options.

Pat Adams, justice of the peace for District 6, has been a proponent of a temporary sales tax, what he calls "the one and done option."

Adams said he remains convinced that is the best choice. He said the county will have to educate voters on the merits of the sales tax if it is going to succeed.

"If you explain it to them correctly, that it's for a short-term sales tax and that some of it will be paid by people who are visiting the county in addition to people who live here, I think people will support it," Adams said. "I am not in favor of any long-term tax. That's why I'm opposed to any bond issue. I hate debt. It's insane for the county to be paying interest for 20 or 30 years. If you stretch it out for 20 years or more that's $9 million in interest. That's $9 million more than the cost of the building."

Justice of the Peace Michelle Chiocco said she also favors a short-term sales tax. Chiocco stressed she doesn't like the idea of a tax, but the additional cost of a bond issue has persuaded her. Chiocco said she doesn't think the county can pay for a $30 million project through budget cuts, especially if it's done with a bond issue.

"Bonding means adding to the budget because you have that interest to pay," she said. "The constituents I have spoken to are actually in favor of a small sales tax with a cap."

The justices of the peace have heard opposition to the size and cost of the project. Jacob Faught of Gentry is running as a Libertarian Party candidate for the District 12 Quorum Court seat held by Republican Party candidate Adriane Carr of Siloam Springs. Faught said at last week's Quorum Court meeting he has been doing his own informal polling.

"The people I've talked to, it's pretty overwhelmingly against new taxes," Faught said.

Carr said she supports the project and it's been "well thought-through" and she favors a hybrid funding plan with a mixture of sources that should begin with budget cuts and could include a sales tax.

"I believe it will be a dual solution," Carr said. "If indeed we do go the sales tax route the mix will be as little a tax as possible."

The county has been discussing a new building for the circuit court judges, courtrooms, staff members and related offices for several years. The justices of the peace voted last year to keep it in downtown Bentonville.

Plans are for an 86,000-square-foot building on a site on Northeast Second Street with space for eight courtrooms, jury deliberation rooms and judges' chambers. It would include space for the circuit clerk, county clerk and other related offices.

The county has six circuit court judges with five in the downtown area and the sixth at the Juvenile Justice Center on Melissa Drive. The fourth floor of the new building, with room for two of the eight courtrooms, would be left as a shell and finished when needed. The cost of finishing the fourth floor isn't included in the estimated $30 million cost of the project.

The county budgeted $1.5 million this year for architectural and engineering work on the building. That $1.5 million is part of the total estimated cost.

If the justices of the peace agree on a funding plan and obtain voter approval, if needed, the county's schedule is for construction to begin early in 2019. Construction is expected to be completed in 24 to 36 months.

NW News on 04/02/2018

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