Council approves budget

The Bella Vista City Council approved a 2020 municipal budget during its Monday, Dec. 16, regular meeting.

The resolution adopting the budget was approved unanimously. Councilmember Doug Fowler was absent.

“It’s a long process but it’s a good process. I believe we have a fair budget with a minimal increase and we still are able to keep our 25% threshold,” Mayor Peter Christie said, referring to the city’s financial policy that requires 25% of annual income to be kept in unreserved funds.

The approved budget anticipates $18,484,771 in revenue, a 5% increase compared to 2019’s budgeted income. Expenses come in at $18,409,876, also a 5% increase compared to projected expenses for 2019.

A proposed $177,000 project to build a car wash for the street department to better comply with ADEQ standards was removed from prior proposals in order to free up funds to fence in the rear portion of the police station and better secure city hall, he explained, noting this was spurred largely by the recent murder of a Fayetteville police officer.

It’s also worth noting that the library is seeing an increase in its electrical bills, in part, because of heating for the winter but also because on-site contractors are using the library’s electricity to power equipment, meaning the library’s utilities could come in over budget and require an amendment down the road, but that’s the only currently-known potential issue, Christie explained.

The council also approved a resolution amending the city budget to recognize grant revenue totaling $2,208,611 from the Walton Family Foundation to assist with the Mercy Way bridge project and an extension of the Razorback Greenway in Bella Vista.

Christie explained this is part of a larger grant totaling $4.98 million. $1.3 million of these funds will cover the bridge widening, including a bike path across Little Sugar Creek, while the balance is for a proposed stretch of greenway alongside Euston Road.

“What they have done is given us Phase One,” he said.

The council also approved resolutions reappointing Manual “Wade” Hagan to the Board of Construction Appeals, authorizing budgetary funding transfers between departments and a contract with the Bella Vista Animal Shelter.