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.