Prairie Grove Council Approves 2022 Budget

PRAIRIE GROVE — The city’s 2022 budget includes a a third school resource officer, a new position for the sanitation, street and water departments, two new firefighter positions and a 4% raise for city employees.

Prairie Grove City Council approved the budget Dec. 20.

The council’s Dec. 20 meeting agenda also included an ordinance to waive competitive bidding to begin rehab work at the aquatic park and a resolution to approve a contract with Garver LLC for a revised land use plan, master street plan and zoning updates.

General Fund Budget

For 2022, the city projects to receive $2.4 million in revenue for the general fund, compared to $1.89 million for the general fund budget in 2021. Projected revenue includes $925,000 from the county sales tax, $415,000 from property taxes, $336,000 from franchise tax receipts and $130,000 from building permit fees.

Expenses for the general fund are budgeted at $2.1 million. This includes transferring $888,000 to the police and fire sales tax account for those salaries, $260,000 for administrative salaries, $190,000 for police retirement contributions and a $150,000 transfer to the general fund.

For other general fund departments, expenses include $ 206,427 for the police department and $108,810 for the fire department.

The budget for Prairie Grove Public Library shows almost $ 219,000 in revenue and expenses. Revenue includes $133,000 from the county library tax. Expenses are $ 110,000 for salaries, $46,000 for books and $9,000 for children’s programs.

The budget for parks and library operations includes revenue from a $ 119,699 outdoor recreation grant and $208,000 from the city’s local sales and use tax. Expenses will be $100,000 for aquatic park construction, about $255,000 for Muddy Fork Park improvements and $76,000 for park operations.

The police and fire payroll account projects to receive $ 1.3 million in revenue, including $ 415,000 from the local sales tax and the $888,000 transfer from the general fund. Expenses are police and fire salaries, payroll taxes and retirement contributions.

Larry Oelrich, city administrative assistant, said the school district requested another school resource officer with the opening of a new school building in 2022-23. This position will be added in August. The school will pay 75% of the salaries of three school resource officers and the city will pay 25% of the salary costs.

In the police department, the part-time animal control officer will become a fulltime certified police officer position in 2022, with animal control the primary duty for the officer. Vanessa Goodwin will continue in the position and go to the law enforcement academy to become a certified police officer, according to Oelrich.

Budgets for other city services:

• Sanitation: Revenue, $625,825; expenses, $622,385. • Street Fund: Revenue, $1.1 million; expenses, $1.1 million. • Water: Revenue, $ 2.86 million; expenses, $ 2.86 million.

Building Permit Fees Change

In other action, the council adopted an ordinance to amend the fees for building permits so that fees for new construction are based on the heated square footage of a structure.

Oelrich explained the change will benefit certain developments. In collecting building permit fees, Oelrich said the city did not consider the fact that not all buildings are the same.

For example, he said the developer for storage units on U.S. Highway 62 had to pay $27,000 for a building permit.

“That didn’t seem equitable to us,” Oelrich said, noting this type business does not need as many inspections as another development, such as a restaurant or new house.

The ordinance will be in effect for new businesses going forward. Council member Ray Carson voted against the ordinance.

‘No’ To Regional Cluster

The council did not take a vote but members indicated by comments that they did not want to join the Heartland Advanced Medical Manufacturing Regional Cluster. The regional organization aims to identify, attract and keep health care manufacturers in the Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma area.

Wayne Mays, director, approached the city council in November and invited the city to join Heartland. To join, cities pay $1,000 per month, are asked to make a three-year commitment and are to help identify land that could be used for a manufacturing plant. Members so far are Fayetteville Chamber’s Ecomonic Development Authority, Tahlequah, Okla., Regional Development Authority, Cherokee Nation and the cities of Farmington and Stilwell, Okla.

Mayor Sonny Hudson said he did not know that the city needed to pay someone $12,000 a year for this.

“If they’re going to come, they’re going to come,” Hudson said, noting city staff receive calls all the time about companies and developers wanting more information about Prairie Grove.

Council member Rick Ault said he had “zero interest” in joining the regional organization, and no other council members showed any interest in joining either.

Other Measures Approved

In other business, the council approved the following:

• An ordinance to waive competitive bidding to rehab Prairie Grove Aquatic Park. The city is contracting with Clarity Pool on the project for a price not to exceed $98,000. The rehab will be finished in time for the pool to open in May but there is not a guarantee a new splash pad will be ready in May. The new splash pad, which has an estimated price of $370,000, will be located in the area behind the diving boards.

• A resolution to accept a bid for $1.2 million from Crossland Heavy Contractors to construct a new lift station at the wastewater treatment plant.

• A resolution to accept a proposal from Garver Engineering of Fayetteville for revising the city’s land use plan and associated planning ordinances for $45,600.