The amount of property taxes Pulaski County residents owe the county has surpassed a half billion dollars for the first time in the 2018 collection.
Treasurer Debra Buckner's team collects the taxes and divvies them among recipients: the Pulaski County general fund, the road fund, Central Arkansas Library System, Arkansas Children's Hospital, the school districts and Pulaski County cities. The maximum the county can collect from residents will be $511,716,309.02 in 2019.
Buckner said the county collects taxes a year behind the calendar year, meaning Pulaski County will collect 2018 taxes from February to October in 2019. But the office collects taxes that Pulaski County residents have not paid year-round. Taxes are due by Oct. 15 of each year.
The Pulaski County general fund saw an increase of about $200,000 in 2018 and projects an increase of approximately $600,000 for 2019, said Mike Hutchens, the county comptroller.
The treasurer funnels this money into the recipient funds year-round, Hutchens said.
"I'm happy with this," Hutchens said. "This is a good number. It's better than going the other way."
The maximum amount of property taxes the general fund could gain is $1,294,599.11. But this number would mean that every resident paid his taxes on time -- a goal that is largely unrealistic, county officials said.
"That number includes money you're never going to collect," Hutchens said.
County Assessor Janet Troutman Ward deduces how much value Pulaski County properties are worth, and Buckner applies the millage rate for the taxes based on Ward's calculations.
Partially, the county owes this increase to commercial construction, driving up property values, Ward said.
The caps on property taxes are also gradually increasing. In 2001, officials put limits on collectible property taxes because a new assessment after a long period without assessments drastically and suddenly increased taxes, as the property values had increased in the time between assessments, said Karla Burnett, the assessor's director of operations.
Since then, lawmakers require counties to assess properties every three to five years. Burnett said the caps stop property taxes from dramatically increasing at one time, but they do increase over time, explaining the rise in property tax revenue.
For the Pulaski County general fund, this projected $600,000 bump is not a significant raise, Hutchens said. The county operates on an approximately $73 million budget. In 2018, the county operated on a budget that was more than $72 million.
Hutchens said the county will not make any large changes based on this increase but will continue to operate with its original budget.
"That's not saying we're not going to do any new projects, but we're going to be working with the money we've got," Hutchens said.
County Judge Barry Hyde reiterated that the additional money doesn't leave a lot of extra cash for new projects.
"We will continue to maintain a level of service that citizens have grown to expect and maintain our infrastructure. Yes, we're up, but we're up by less than two percent," Hyde said in a statement. "This does not leave much for new projects."
Still, Buckner said she sees this steady increase in revenue as a good sign for the area, showing that Pulaski County is in a period of economic growth.
"It's going to be a part of having survived the economic downturn," Buckner said.
Buckner notes Pulaski's diverse business base is a positive mark for the county. When areas experience "bubble growth," rapid growth that is often because of one industry, Buckner said she finds it concerning because if the industry fails, the county's economy struggles.
Buckner gave Fort Smith as an example of a city that's been struggling since factories pulled out of the area.
"When Whirlpool goes out in Fort Smith, it isn't just Whirlpool and their employees and what about their retirement? It's the restaurants and the gas stations and the beauty shops that people don't have any money to go do that stuff, so it's the domino effect," Buckner said.
In contrast, she said that Pulaski has many industries that support the economy. Buckner said she's been happy with the steady incline in revenue, showing that the economy is thriving.
The treasurer's office has a 98 percent collection rate, meaning the officials take up 98 percent of the possible property taxes in the county.
"So we've got a buy-in from the people who live here," Buckner said. "They like the parks, they like the bike trails, they like the libraries that offer not just books but everything in addition to books."
Metro on 03/04/2019