Budget Committee Eyes Jail Fines Amid Routine Business
The Budget & Finance Committee wants more detail on jail fines but otherwise, the August meeting was routine business as usual.
Chair JP John Pickett (D, Dist. 11) opened the August 11 committee meeting with County Treasurer Scott Sanson, who reported these July 31 totals for the “big 5” County revenue accounts:
County General (fund 1000): $3,006,927
County Road (fund 2000): $4,355,720
County Road Sales Tax (fund 3402): $1,552,477
Animal Control (fund 3404): $1,666,215
Criminal Justice Sales Tax (fund 3407): $939,410
Revenue “Looking Good”
Sanson went on to say
… looking at this time of year and our revenue versus expenditures, we’re looking real good … we’re in August, it’s usually the low period. Having a fund balance of $3,000,000 is excellent especially what we’ve been through.
He pointed out that even though “revenues are down, especially in two sectors,” … “revenues in other areas have actually pulled us above” last year “very slightly…. What’s in front of us has scared me more than what’s behind us.”
At $892,408, sales tax collections for July were 13.04% “better than it was this month last year,” and Sanson added that as of July 31, sales tax revenue is “59% of our projected revenue for the year of $9.8 million.” Overall revenue through July is “up 7.2% vs. this point last year.”
County/City Jail Fines
Sanson noted that County and city jail fines are reported on one revenue code (Fees and Forfeitures, fund 7402) and proposed to split the fines by source into two revenue codes to make it “easier for you to track.”
JP Tyler Pearson (D, Dist. 7) asked County Attorney Phil Murphy about per diem revenue, noting that the “Judge’s office has renegotiated a lot of these per diem rates into different kinds of agreements … into something that involves the city, just regular fines and fees for the jail.”
Murphy responded
The way the statute is set up, the County has the option of charging a per diem rate or negotiating a agreement with the cities in which they can charge a different rate.
And in our case the County has agreed with municipalities to change the agreed-upon rate to be a additional fine that is attached to every ticket that’s written. So there’s currently a $20 fine for a ticket that the sheriff may write in rural Faulkner County.
If that same defendant were to have the same offense in the City of Conway, he would be charged with two different fines: a $20 city fine as well as the $20 County fine.
Sanson agreed to split out the fees for 2018 and 2019 to show the revenue split so JPs can see “what kind of impact these contracts between the cities are having,” as Pearson put it.
Proposed Ordinance 20-19
Pickett skimmed over the Ordinance, beginning with “Section One is the receipt of a Homeland Security Grant and moving it into Machinery & Equipment. Are there any questions about Section One?”
Responding to JP Zach Cates (R, Dist. 13), OEM Director Shelia Bellot explained
That was a reimbursement to the City of Conway. Basically what we’re doing is, we’re receiving it to the fund for our auditors and then issuing them a reimbursement check.
She added the Conway Bomb Squad applied for the grant for equipment updates “but the grant money comes to the County.”
Pickett continued with no details, saying “Sections 2, 3, and 4 are transfers within the Coroner’s Office.” Pearson asked, “Could we get a brief explanation of the transfers?”
Coroner Jessica Thorn explained that, due to COVID-19 restrictions, her office is not spending budgeted money on training and associated travel and so she plans to replace 16-year-old carpet in her offices with the transferred funds.
The Committee verbally agreed unanimously to pass Ordinance 20-19 to the full Quorum Court, and the meeting was adjourned.
(There was no written version of proposed Ordinance 20-19 available to the public at meeting time, although written notes from the County Coroner and Office of Emergency Management Director were attached to the 8/6/20 meeting notice from County Clerk Margaret Darter.)
Videos edited from original video on Faulkner County’s YouTube channel.)
Visit Faulkner County Reports on YouTube for more videos and video excerpts from this and other County meetings.
