Department budgets under consideration in Pea Ridge

PEA RIDGE — City department heads have prepared their preliminary proposed budgets to present to Mayor Jackie Crabtree for consideration by city officials.

The City Council is scheduled to meet as a Committee of the Whole at 3 p.m. Nov. 4 to discuss the budgets.

Voters in the city limits approved a one- cent sales tax to add to the 37-year-0ld one-cent tax on the promise from city officials that the money would be used to pay off a bond issue for the Street Department, then be split between the Street, Fire, Police and Parks departments.

Street Department superintendent Nathan See had presented his plans for the revenue during the election and said streets that would be upgraded included Patton Street, Hazelton Road, It’ll Do Road, Greer Street, Lee Town Road, McCulloch Street, Weston Street and North Davis Street. His plan also includes installation of sidewalks.

Fire Chief Jared Powell presented a preliminary budget requesting salaries for emergency medical personnel, fire personnel, staff and administration. Those budget requests included group insurance and taxes.

Police Chief Lynn Hahn prepared a budget that included money for equipment including computer software and body cameras. He said he still hadn’t heard whether the department was approved for a grant for which he applied. Hahn prepared a chart detailing the department’s vehicles and his plan for replacements over the years to come. He said he needed two vehicles for 2021 and four for 2022.

Hahn said that he tries to get 100,000 miles out of every vehicle, but that the mileage and use of the vehicles for the department creates more wear and tear than on a vehicle used in more normal driving conditions.

During the campaign for the sales tax, Crabtree said one of the reasons for the tax was to fund a full-time Fire Department.

During a City Council committee meeting in June, Crabtree said: “It’s the department heads’ jobs to create a presentation to show the council what the department needs. That department head has to step up to show what is needed and why. It’s the council’s job to determine where the money comes from.”