Texarkana board passes $39 million 2016 budget

TEXARKANA — The Texarkana Board of Directors passed an almost $39 million budget Monday that will allow the city to have a 67-day reserve, if needed.

The budget did not have the support of all the directors. Ward 5 Director Travis Odom opposed it, expressing concern about one police officer position not being filled.

“Did you put back a position in the Police Department? I did request that at the board workshop meeting,” Odom said after City Controller Cheryl Brewer made her presentation at the meeting. “[Police] Chief [Robert] Harrison helped us out in 2015 by not filling positions.”

Brewer told Odom that replacing the police position would be up to the board.

“We would have to cut other personnel or take money out of fund balance,” Brewer said.

The 2016 budget includes an unreserved balance of $3,787,302 and a revenue deficit of $293,997 that will have to come out of the city’s fund balance.

The deficit is made up of three different pools of money. The first portion is $30,000 for the final payment in the settlement of former City Clerk Patti Scott Grey’s lawsuit. The second portion is $80,185 that would have been saved had employees had to contribute to their health insurance, and money that was saved from unclaimed workman’s compensation cases. The third portion is $183,812 that the city estimates it will need for its contribution to the Bi-State Justice Center’s budget. Brewer said the Bi-State Justice Center’s overall budget has yet to be approved.

Brewer said taking the $293,997 out of the city’s fund balance marks the difference between having 67 days of reserve rather than 69 days of reserve. She said the standard number for most Arkansas cities is 60 days of reserve operating funds.