Miller County budget panel set to meet tonight

TEXARKANA, Ark. — The Miller County Budget and Finance Committee will meet at 6 p.m. today inside the Miller County Courthouse’s second-floor courtroom.

Discussion will likely focus on opportunities and issues discussed at the committee’s last meeting, held Jan. 27.

During the group’s last meeting, Committee Chairman Ernest Pender said a recent increase in federal inmates held in the county jail could help county finances throughout 2020, provided the inmate numbers stay at fairly high levels.

Recently, the jail’s federal inmate population increased from 39 to 59. The county receives $55 per federal inmate per day.

In addition, Pender said last week that the county is looking at holding at least 20 Texarkana, Arkansas, misdemeanor inmates at $39 per inmate per day, which is more than the county receives by holding Arkansas state inmates at just $30 per inmate per day.

Pender added that the misdemeanor inmate deal would also help the city’s finances, since the Arkansas side now has to pay $57 per misdemeanor inmate per day to LaSalle Corrections.

In other business, Regional

Economic Development

Incorporation Executive Director Rob Sitterley spoke to committee members last week about the prospects of having a manufacturing plant locate in the Miller County area, perhaps within the next few years.

Pender said this could potentially bring in $800 million to $1.2 billion worth of business.

Sitterley told committee members it would require the county to help buy the land at a proportional cost of about $250,000 a year over a fiveyear period.

Most of the committee members said it would be worth a try provided the county’s overall financial condition doesn’t suffer from the investment.