City to hike fees, hopes to raise $100K

Official: Increases will affect animal shelter, fire department

Texarkana, Ark., voted on Monday to collect fees that could raise about $100,000 in revenue per year.

At its regular meeting at City Hall, the Board of Directors passed an ordinance authorizing more than 20 new or increased fees for Fire Department and Animal Care and Adoption Center services.

The changes are meant to cover ever-rising expenses, City Manager Kenny Haskin has said.

“We have to adjust to the cost of doing business. It just makes good sense. The cost of materials has gone up, but that’s not reflected in what we charge. We have to do something sooner rather than later,” he said at a workshop meeting in February.

Public Works Director Jeff Whitten presented a similar list of his department’s fee updates during a workshop April 12. Expected to raise about $80,000 per year, the fees include basing new residential building permit fees on square footage rather than on construction cost. A formal proposal to adopt plan could come before the board this spring.

The April 12 workshop came up in discussion of an ordinance proposed by Ward 2 Director Laney Harris that is meant to establish policy for public use of city facilities, like parks and streets, that are temporarily closed off to accommodate group events.

Harris’ ordinance sets rules for the facility use application process and defines users’ restrictions and responsibilities, including paying any expenses. Haskin said Whitten was developing a similar pro-

posal stemming from the workshop.

“As recently as last week, we obviously had a workshop, and this issue was brought up and discussed. Public Works is in a position right now vetting an ordinance that they will be bringing forward in the coming weeks to address the issues and concerns that were noted last week,” he said.

Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell told Harris the new policy should be generated by Public Works, not the board.

“It sounds like you have some very good recommendations. But I think it should … come from that department. These are great ideas, but I think that it’s not our responsibility to make up policy,” she said.

Ward 1 Director Linda Teeter agreed.

“We should delegate authority to these entities, and I agree, some of the things you brought up should be addressed by Public Works. But I don’t think that we should micromanage and oversee all of this. That’s what all these departments—that’s their job,” she said.

Ward 4 Director Travis Odom questioned whether a policy shift was necessary at all.

“We have a policy and have had a policy in-house that has worked 100 percent good for years and years and years. We’ve had no complaints about it whatsoever. If something works, why do you want to tear it up and do something with it?” he said.

Odom moved and the board voted to table Harris’ ordinance indefinitely. To put the ordinance on the public record, Harris read as much of it as he could in five minutes allotted him during the citizens’ communication time of the meeting.

After the meeting, Harris and Whitten expressed willingness to work together on one facilities use ordinance addressing both of their concerns.

“I don’t have a problem with that. I requested that they give it (his ordinance) to Public Works, but now they’ve engaged in censorship,” he said, referring to the board’s refusal to read the ordinance into the record. The ordinance has been available to the public on the city’s website since Friday.

“I don’t think there’s a problem to reconcile. I think there’s just coordination between his concerns that he has and an ordinance to bring,” Whitten said.

The board also conducted a public hearing on 13 substandard structures and passed a resolu- tion condemning them.

Owners of the structures have 30 days to tear them down or seek last-chance permission to get them up to code, after which the city may demolish them. They are at 616 Ash St., 710 Ash St., 713 Ash St., 916 Beech St., 1301 Booker St., 920 Cherry St., 1624 Delaware St., 1020 E. Ninth St., 2901 Grand Ave., 206 Martha St., 1122 Mary St., 1009 Putman St. and 401 Ray St.

The board’s next meeting is May 1.

On Twitter: @RealKarlRichter