Officials ponder budget issues

BENTONVILLE — Benton County’s justices of the peace will have to reconcile a number of competing interests in next year’s budget from employee raises to new personnel and equipment to a new courts building.

The county canceled its first budget meeting, originally set for today, to give comptroller Brenda Guenther more time to work on departmental budgets and revenue projections.

The first formal budget discussion is set for Oct. 6 when the justices of the peace will have a joint meeting of the Budget and Personnel committees. Tom Allen, justice of the peace and chairman of the Finance and Budget committees, said the biggest questions he will have at first will be on big-ticket items such as a courts building.

“The department heads and elected officials have been asked to keep their budgets to within 3 percent of this year, holding personnel

“The big question is going to be capital. That’s not just the courthouse, although that’s certainly the biggest project.” — Tom Allen, justice of the peace

to zero, so we can compare them on an apples-to-apples basis. Then we can look at raises and capital,” he said.

“The big question is going to be capital,” Allen said. “That’s not just the courthouse, although that’s certainly the biggest project. We’ve got bridges. War Eagle and other bridges like Spanker Creek this year and Wildcat Creek.”

Allen said the Quorum Court should be mindful during the budget process a new county judge will take office Jan. 1. He said Barry Moehring, now justice of the peace, will likely win the race for that office.

“I believe we should align ourselves with the presumptive county judge on the courthouse as far as the budget,” Allen said. “We’ve got to get together on this project.”

Benton County has been considering a building to house circuit courts and related offices for several years. A study in January 2014 identified three sites for a building. One site is on Northeast Second Street in downtown Bentonville, across from the courthouse. The second downtown location uses the site of the old jail and space between the courthouse and the County Administration Building. The third location on Southwest 14th Street uses county land near the Road Department and jail.

Moehring said he’s campaigning for election and won’t assume a victory. He said he’s spent some time considering the 2017 budget as a justice of the peace. If elected, he said, he’ll want to be able to review and revise budgets as needed.

“I can only approach the 2017 budget from the perspective of a JP,” Moehring said. “I’m not involved in the development of any of those departmental budgets and my input hasn’t been requested.”

Moehring thinks the development process for a courts building will continue in 2017 with needing money for design, architectural and engineering costs.

“I think we need to move with deliberate speed, but be thoughtful,” he said. “Whether that means we can break ground on the project next year, I don’t know. That seems pretty ambitious. And I’ve said many times I would rather we get this done right than get it done fast.”

Another budget priority identified by the justices of the peace is employee pay. The county is having its pay system reviewed and the Personnel Committee will hear a report on that as well as consider requests for personnel.

Guenther said each 1 percent increase in across-theboard raises for employees costs about $ 318,000. Barb Ludwig, the human resources administrator, said Thursday she has received information on 17 requests for personnel and is still preparing information for the committee to review.

Pat Adams, justice of the peace, said he thinks personnel requests, including raises and new personnel, will account for any increase in revenue for 2017. The county has estimated the property appraisal will bring in about $1.5 million and sales tax revenue is expected to exceed the 2016 budget amount of $8 million. Adams said the budget will be tight with new personnel, including 12 jailers for an expansion at the jail.

“There is no additional revenue,” he said. “It’s already spent. We’ve allowed the Sheriff’s Office to have 12 new jailers. That’s a half-million dollars right there. And we’re going to have other new personnel on top of that. I think our employees are underpaid already. I’d love to give them a 7 or 8 percent across-the-board raise but I don’t know what we can afford to give them.”

County Judge Bob Clinard said his departments’ budgets, including the Road Department, will meet the guideline of staying within 3 percent of this year’s budget.

Beyond that, he said, the Road Department will ask for about $3 million in capital equipment, which includes continuing the program of buying five new road graders each year so the county can keep its fleet relatively new and under warranty. He said the department also will be asking to begin similar rotation program for dump trucks beginning with the 2017 budget.

Adams said he wants to reconsider the budget for the Road Department, saying the county needs to change priorities and operating methods. He has said the county needs to hire an engineer to design projects, hire contractors to do much of the paving work and focus county workers on maintenance.

“We’re behind on our maintenance. Instead of having the Road Department shoot for paving 50 miles of roads, I’d like to see them cut that back to 20 miles or so and focus on maintenance.”

“I can only approach the 2017 budget from the perspective of a JP. I’m not involved in the development of any of those departmental budgets and my input hasn’t been requested.” — Barry Moehring, justice of the peace