Pilot Debt Collection Plan Begins & JPs OK Transparency Ordinance
Transparency and debt collection made for a shorter-than-usual October 20 Quorum Court meeting, after two of five items on the original agenda got cut.
At its meeting held immediately beforehand, the Personnel Committee withdrew Ordinance 20-26, which would have created a new $40,000 position in the Collector’s office to handle the collection of unpaid circuit court fines and fees.
Another agenda item related to debt collection, Ordinance 20-27, was not discussed at the Quorum Court meeting.
Instead, JPs heard about a pilot debt collection program to be run by the County Attorney’s office, and approved a routine transfer ordinance plus a transparency ordinance affecting County boards and commissions.
All the JPs attended the October 20 Quorum Court meeting, although several were online, making it tricky at times for everyone to hear all of what was being said.
County Officer Reports
After recognizing the County’s 4-H program, Judge Jim Baker asked for County officer reports.
Treasurer Report
County Treasurer Scott Sanson reported September totals for the “big 5” County revenue accounts:
County General (fund 1000): $2,295,065
Road Fund (fund 2000): $4,256,792
County Road Sales Tax (fund 3402): $1,178,061
Animal Control (fund 3404): $1,669,660
Criminal Justice Sales Tax (fund 3407) $1,233,072
Sales Tax Revenue Up
As he reported to the Budget & Finance Committee, Sanson said September’s sales tax revenue — $889,603 — means that County revenue is up 7.97% over 2019.
He projected the year’s sales tax revenue to “eclipse the $10 million mark.”
He added, “Sales tax numbers are really doing good. As far as County General numbers, we’re still kind of waiting to see the level of taxes come in to see where we’re going to be.”
County General Revenue is Flat
Sanson warned the Court
Revenues are going to be, for County General, pretty much flat for 2021 revenue projections vs. 2020. We’re going to be, hopefully, up a little bit in our sales tax but we have fallen behind on a couple other things, so being cautious with that…. For County General, the revenue projection is almost going to be identical to 2020.
He said his office would provide 2021 revenue projections by the end of October, “and then probably the 10th or 15th of November, we’ll have carryover numbers projections.”
County Clerk Margaret Darter said “We’re at 66% of our budget basically, which is pretty good in that normally we’d be about 75% at this point.”
Judge Jim Baker pointed out that the Sheriff’s report “is part of your file,” and then asked Tax Collector Sherry Koonce, “How did tax collection go as far as October 15th?”
Koonce reported that it “wasn’t near as busy as it had been in the past…. I think more people are paying online. Real estate taxes are up from last year but our personal property’s down….”
Committee Reports
Courts & Public Safety Committee Chair JP Randy Higgins (R, Dist. 2) said the Committee had discussed circuit court fines and fees, while Personnel Committee Chair JP Steve Goode (R, Dist. 3) said his committee had dealt with the Coroner’s salary request.
JP Justin Knight (R, Dist 1), Chair of the Infrastructure Committee, said his committee had not held a meeting.
Ordinance 20-21
Ordinance 20-21, sponsored by JP Kris Kendrick (R, Dist. 9), requires that details about County Boards and commissions be posted on the County website in one place, and that board and commission job openings be posted for four weeks.
After two earlier readings with little discussion, the Ordinance drew criticism from JP Jerry Boyer (R, Dist. 12), who questioned whether the Quorum Court had “the authority — there’s the separation of powers issue here” — to require the Judge to place the information on the County website.
County Attorney Phil Murphy responded,
… This body is presented with the ability to create policy for the County and it’s the executive branch that is the administrative function; they’re here to deal with the day-to-day functions…. I believe this is a day-to-day function.
There’s certain small functions of the County that by Constitution are delegated to the Executive Officer and it is my opinion that this Ordinance does overstep its bounds….
Kendrick then asked, “Is there anywhere in state law that says we cannot do this? Is there a specific state law that said we cannot create transparency policy?”
Change Timeframe Back to 2 Weeks
After Murphy pointed out that the four-week job posting timeframe “is policy,” Higgins proposed to change that provision back to the current 2-week timeframe, “so it aligns with our County policy manual.”
Kendrick explained that four weeks gives uninformed County citizens sufficient time to learn about a vacancy they then might apply for, but Judge Baker said that extra two weeks would be “excessive” because when people resign “the board becomes non-functional” until replacements are found.
The Court voted to amend the Ordinance back to a 2-week timeframe via a roll-call vote. Seven JPs voted “Yes,” with no vote at all from Knight and Boyer voting “present.” JPs Zach Cates (R, Dist. 13), Jim Houston (R, Dist. 4), Kendrick, and Tyler Lachowsky (R, Dist. 6) voted “No” to keep the longer 4-week vacancy timeframe.
After expressing her support for the proposed Ordinance, JP Rose Roland (R, Dist. 5) then returned to the question of legality, asking “Can we change this tonight to a Resolution?”
Boyer again objected, reading from again from state law, “‘a resolution shall not serve to compel any executive action….’ The idea of changing to a resolution doesn’t change the idea that the separation of powers is still in play here.”
JP Jim Barrett (R, Dist. 8) stated his support for the proposed Ordinance, adding “If the County Judge doesn’t follow through, then he’s going to be accountable to the voters….”
JP Lachowsky echoed Barrett’s remarks, saying
We’re a Court by the people and for the people … just being able to hold our local county government accountable for transparency .. I think that’s what we’re trying to do … hold ourselves to a higher standard, be more transparent to our constituents.
The Court passed amended Ordinance 20-21 by roll call.
Eight JPs voted “Yes” (Barrett, Cates, Goode, Houston, Kendrick, Lachowsky, Roland, and Shock).
Five JPs voted “No” (Boyer, Higgins, Knight, Pearson, and Pickett).
Ordinance 20-25
Once Judge Baker announced the topic, Higgins immediately moved to send Ordinance 20-25 back to the Courts & Public Safety Committee; Boyer seconded the motion.
Higgins reviewed his discussions at both the Personnel Committee and his own Committee about collecting unpaid circuit court fines/fees as well as what he said was $5 million in unpaid property taxes from the Tax Collector’s records.
Higgins said he had just learned that the County could begin a pilot program through the County Attorney’s office that would allow us to take advantage of the time constraint of getting the data in by mid-December this year.
That development caused him to pull Ordinance 20-25 back, he said, even though it was just written after last week’s Committee meetings.
Later, Higgins said he intended “to table it until such time that we get feedback from the pilot program…. Really, we don’t need feedback until sometime .. this time next year, maybe a little earlier so that we can determine what direction we want to go for the 2022 year.”
After Murphy confirmed various details of the pilot program in response to questions from Boyer,
the Court voted unanimously by roll call to send Ordinance 20-25 back to the Courts & Public Safety Committee.
Because the County Attorney’s office has adequate funding and is acting as the Sheriff’s agent, no action was required from the Quorum Court to begin the pilot debt collection program through the County Attorney’s office. (Read more about the debt collection program here.)
Ordinance 20-24
This routine transfer Ordinance 20-24 formally receives the $62,807 grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life at the County Clerk’s office for election services. Sanson said the money would be placed in a new “non-fed, non-state-grant fund” to designate its unique non-profit source.
The Court voted unanimously by roll call to approve Ordinance 20-24.
Announcements
Final announcements included employee appreciation “burgers on the lawn,” Veterans Day plans, County fair remarks, and November 6 Chemical Recovery Day.
Audience member Rene Henderson commented on domestic violence prevention, breast cancer prevention, “recognizing diversity in this County’s efforts,” and Boss’ Day, as well as thanking the Court for its work to bring more transparency to County government.
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.
