State revenue office in Fayetteville temporarily closes

FAYETTEVILLE -- The state Revenue Office is closed temporarily after an employee may have been exposed to the covid-19 virus.

Scott Hardin, communications director for the state Department of Finance and Administration, said Wednesday the office at 3086 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. will most likely be closed until next week.

"There's a slight chance of it opening on Friday, but more likely it will be closed until next week," Hardin said.

Hardin said the office is closed so a crew can do a deep cleaning of the entire office.

The office was closed from July 31 to Aug. 6 after a possible covid-19 contact was reported.

Hardin said the Bentonville office is normally the busiest in the state and the Fayetteville office is in the top three of four busiest offices.

The Bentonville office closed July 20, opened the nest day then closed again July 23 through July 31.

The Springdale office closed July 17 and again July 22, closing for one day each time.

Hardin said another state Revenue Office, in southwestern Little Rock, is also now closed for a possible covid-19 exposure and the same cleaning procedure will be followed there. He said the agency has been able to operate without interruption for the most part throughout the covid-19 pandemic, which was declared a national and state and health emergency in March.

"There were 15 or 20 offices closed early on in the pandemic," Hardin said. "Those were temporary. Right now, the Fayetteville office is closed and our southwest Little Rock office is closed. The remaining 132 offices are open across the state."

With the Fayetteville office closed, the satellite offices of the Washington County assessor and collector are also temporarily closed. Assessor Russell Hill said employees have been shifted temporarily to the main office in the County Courthouse at 280 N. College Ave.

"When it was closed before, we got an increase in over-the-phone assessments," Hill said. Hill said the two county offices are separated from the Revenue Office and he has installed air filters.

"We're enclosed in our own area, so there's very little exposure," Hill said.

Benton County Assessor Roderick Grieve said when the Revenue Office in Bentonville was closed he followed a similar procedure, shifting his employees to offices in Bentonville and Rogers so they could continue to work. Grieve said the offices in Rogers, Siloam Springs and Gravette have all remained open during the pandemic.

"They closed the Revenue Office on D Street for about a week," Grieve said. "That's the only closing we've had here because of the pandemic."

Hardin said more people have been using the department's online services during the pandemic, but not what he would like to see.

"We don't know if people are aware of all the services we have online," he said.