Photo: The Baxter County Quorum Court spread out across the second floor courtroom Tuesday evening to conduct its business while adhering to social distance requirements under the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adhering to social distance requirements and utilizing technology to meet public meeting legislation, the Baxter County Quorum Court moved quickly through a two-item agenda Tuesday evening. As it has permeated every aspect of the news and life across the globe, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic made its way into the meeting.
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While not specifically on the agenda, Judge Mickey Pendergrass alerted the quorum court members late last week to be prepared for possibly needing to address the county’s future operations in view of the pandemic’s impact on revenue.
He told the justices, with member Luci Soltysik absent, while the county’s finances will be impacted, the “saving grace” is the area’s big box stores where sales are reportedly up 50% over normal spending. It is the sales tax generated from local businesses that supplies a significant portion of the county’s general budget.
Judge Pendergrass told the justices he is getting advice from the Arkansas Association of Counties in dealing with the financial impact of the pandemic.
He said officials have been warned of dramatic cuts anticipated in funding coming from the state that particularly impact the budget of the road and bridge department.
Pendergrass says it is anticipated it will be at least two months before more complete details of the financial impact are known.
At the time Pendergrass made his comments, Arkansas remains one of a handful of states without a stay-at-home order, allowing many businesses to continue to operate that are shuttered elsewhere across the country.
The court gave its full approval to the two agenda items.
What is typically a routine matter appropriating fees and reimbursements received to the sheriff’s department contained special one-time funding. Sheriff John Montgomery told the court the $37,058 from the City of Gassville will be used to purchase a second transport van for his department.
Montgomery said the funds were generated from traffic ticket fees that under state law and the support of an attorney general’s opinion could only be used to cover the costs of housing jail inmates from the City of Gassville.
With voters approving the quarter-cent sales tax for the maintenance and operation of the jail in 2018, municipalities in the county no longer pay the $50 per day cost for housing their inmates.
Montgomery says Gassville is the first municipality to forward accumulated fees to the county, following the passage of the sales tax, and he anticipates others will follow.
And the justices gave their approval to an emergency ordinance to address leave policies in times of a public health emergency declared by the governor and in keeping with the recently passed federal CARES act.
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