County JPs back new radio system

Emergency communication expected to cost $8.5 million

FAYETTEVILLE — Washington County’s justices of the peace on Monday agreed to move forward with a proposal for an $8.5 million emergency communication system.

The Quorum Court’s County Services Committee heard a presentation outlining the proposal and discussed asking voters to approve a temporary sales tax increase to fund the project.

The committee took no action on the proposal but Ann Harbison, justice of the peace for District 13 in southern Washington County and chairwoman of the county’s Finance and Budget Committee, said she will add the item to the committee’s agenda for its Oct. 8 meeting.

The committee discussed having the project and funding plan completed in time to put the proposal on the ballot for the March 1 primary election. Harbison said she has been told the county has to complete work on the ballot proposal before the end of December to meet the deadlines for having a vote in March.

“We can’t wait another month,” Harbison said.

Jon Luther, the county’s emergency services director, headed up a committee of county representatives, Central EMS, and rural police and fire departments that has been working for months on a plan to replace the 15-year-old system now in use.

Luther said the equipment now in use is working, but can’t be replaced and is no longer supported by the manufacturer. In past meetings, Luther has told the Quorum Court the county is “one lightning strike away” from having the system fail.

Luther told the justices of the peace the project includes four towers to host the new communication equipment, dispatch consoles for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Central EMS and additional equipment for three towers now in use by the city of Fayetteville. Those infrastructure items have an estimated cost of about $4.9 million.

Luther said the committee had also agreed to recommend buying 1,727 radios for the agencies now using the system. That number of radios will replace those currently in use. At a cost of $1,795 each, the 1,727 radios have a price tag of about $3.1 million.

With a 3% contingency cost, a $127,500 project management fee, legal and administrative costs of about $20,000 and bond charges of $40,000, the administrative costs of the project total $442,500, bringing the total

estimated cost to $8.5 million.

The committee discussed the possibility of finding grants for some of the cost and agreed to pursue any available. Borrowing money to pay for the project was also discussed, as was a lease-purchase arrangement. But the committee focused on a temporary sales tax as the best method of paying for the project. Carl Gales, chief of staff for County Judge Joseph Wood, said a one-eighth percent sales tax would raise about $10 million in two years and a quarter percent sales tax would raise $10 million in one year. Gales said the ballot proposal would be written with a sunset provision, ending the sales tax once the $8.5 million has been collected.

None of the justices of the peace expressed any enthusiasm for a sales tax, but several said it is the county’s best option.

“I hate taxes and I hate raising taxes,” Willie Leming, justice of the peace for District 13 in western Washington County, said during the discussion. “But I think that’s the way to go. When we have ball games and things here we collect a lot of money. I think 90 percent of the people I talk to say ‘Hell yeah. Let’s go for it.’”

Harbison said the county needs to pay for the project in the shortest time possible to keep the cost down.

“We need to get this funded and paid for,” Harbison said. “If we stretch this out it just costs more.”

Harvey Bowman, justice of the peace for District 3 in Springdale and chairman of the County Services Committee, said the Quorum Court needs to find ways to convince voters the county is using their tax money in the most efficient way possible.

“Northwest Arkansas is one of the highest sales tax areas in the whole country,” Bowman said. “Nobody likes that. Including Harvey Bowman. I hate it. We’ve got to continue to find ways to improve our efficiency.”