Comments on two stories from the BCD yesterday

The Benton County Daily Record ran two front page stories yesterday that I wanted to post about.

The first was regarding a message from the City of Siloam Springs that indicates it will cut off ambulance service to rural Benton County if the County does not pay the requested budget for that service for the whole year.  

My earlier post describes the overall issue.  The bottom line is the defeat of the $85 annual fee by rural residents during the February 11 special election will result in uncertainty about the future of ambulance service in unincorporated Benton County.  In the unincorporated areas around Siloam Springs it appears that service could be disrupted or ended.

I completely understand that rural county residents are upset about this.  I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that we already pay too much in taxes and fees to the various levels of government.  Unfortunately this is a unique circumstance that has been building for years and one way or another ambulance service is going to have to be paid for with either a fee, cutting other county services or by raising taxes in some other way (which I am opposed to all of the options I've seen to date).

The worst outcome is ending ambulance service to some parts of Benton County.

The other story had the lead, "Benton County's courts building project is moving forward."

That's not exactly the case.

A study has been completed and three options for a new courts facility have been identified -- each around $50 million.  However no decision has been made to proceed with any of these options.  Additionally pursuing any of these options will almost certainly mean going to the voters to approve some sort of tax increase -- something I believe would have a very difficult chance of passing.

What we (Benton County and the Quorum Court) still need to do is explore scaled back options at much lower cost that don't need a tax increase for funding.  That work should begin this year.

So, a courts building is not moving forward at this point.  We've simply accumulated more information from a study and now additional work and investigation is required to determine our next steps.

As always, please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Quick Facts About the Benton County Ambulance Issue

Please find at the bottom of this post the latest schedule for town halls on the upcoming vote on the Benton County rural ambulance issue. 
One very important note: if you live in an incorporated area of Benton County such as Bentonville, Centerton, Rogers or other city, this issue does not affect you. 
Only voters in unincorporated areas of the county are impacted.
In a nutshell the vote is to affirm or deny an ordinance recently voted on by the Quorum Court that would impose an $85 fee per household (in unincorporated areas only) to pay for continued ambulance service from the various cities that provide this service.
The law is pretty clear: these cities are required to seek reimbursement for the costs of providing ambulance service and Benton County is obligated to pay for that service.
After many months and meetings of deliberations the Quorum Court (with my support) decided to impose the fee on those citizens of unincorporated Benton County who directly benefit from the ambulance service provided by the cities. While no one on the Quorum Court was happy about having to impose this fee, in the end it became the most palatable solution in order to maintain ambulance service across the rural areas of Benton County.
The vote on February 11th will either uphold or negate the fee. If the fee is turned down the remaining options available for consideration are not very attractive:

- Raise taxes in some form or fashion on all citizens of Benton County in order to subsidize ambulance service for the unincorporated residents of the County.
- Pay for the ambulance service out of reserve funds.
- Cut other services across the county in order to pay for ambulance services.
- Decide to not enter into agreements with the cities to continue ambulance service with the potential impact that ambulance service to some areas of Benton County will be discontinued.
I would urge citizens who live in unincorporated Benton County to please attend one of the town halls listed below (or others that will be scheduled) and seriously consider the ramifications for voting down the fee.

HIGHFILL: Jan. 16 (6:30 pm): Highfill Town Hall, 15036 West Hwy 12

CENTERTON: Jan. 18 (9:00 am): Centerton Mayor's Coffee, Centerton Town Hall, 290 Main St.

SILOAM SPRINGS: Jan 20 (6:00 pm): Community Building, 110 N. Mt Olive

GRAVETTE: Jan. 24 (6:00 pm): Bill V. Hall Senior Center, 1878 Limkin Rd.

LOWELL: Jan. 25 (1:00 pm): Lowell City Hall, 216 North Lincoln St.

PEA RIDGE: Jan. 28 (6:00 pm): Community Services Room, Pea Ridge Fire Department, 293 South Curtis Ave.

CENTERTON: Jan. 30 (6:30 pm): Centerton Fire Department, 755 W. Centerton Blvd.