Quorum Court passes millage in special meeting

Quorum Court passes millage in special meeting

County officials gather fol-lowing Thanksgiving holiday to address protest, measure approved in 11- 1 vote

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Crittenden County Quorum Court passed the 2017 millage rate after a protest by one justice over the West Memphis-Marion school district lines stalled the vote at the regular November meeting.

The court met for a special meeting Monday to adopt the rates, which passed this time with Justice Hubert Bass — who brought the matter up — casting the lone no vote.

The Quorum Court is required by law to adopt the millage rates as set by the county and the various school boards and municipalities by December. For the past few years Bass has symbolically voted against the rates to protest the fact that Marion School District receives millage money generated from parts of West Memphis — specifically from residents who live north of Dover Road.

Bass has long contended that the money — anywhere from $3 to $6 million — should rightfully go to West Memphis and not Marion. The school district boundaries were drawn back in the 1950s.

Several justices pointed out at the November meeting that the Quorum Court does not have any authority over the school district or where school boundaries are drawn, and that it would take a court to change them.

Bass had asked Wheeless to invite West Memphis School Superintendent Jon Collins to the December meeting to address the matter, but Collins declined.

County Judge Woody Wheeless pointed out that if the Quorum Court didn’t pass the millage by December that the county would not be able to collected any tax money to fund the government.

“I understand exactly where he (Bass) is coming from,” said County Judge Woody Wheeless. “But the way this is designed, every one of these cities already voted on what we are looking at. And without this being passed they won’t receive any funding for 2018.”

Justice Vickie Robertson asked why it would result in a government shutdown and not just a rollback to the previous year’s millage rates.

“Unless the law has changed, it used to be that it just rolled back,” Robertson

said.

County Tax Collector Ellen Foote said they called the lawyers at Arkansas Association of County Governments and were told that if it didn’t pass, the county could not collect any money.

“We’ve never not had it pass,” Foote told the justices. “They said if it wasn’t passed by December that there would be a government shutdown. Plus, Earle had a school millage increase they voted in. So if we didn’t vote it in, they wouldn’t get the raise.”

Wheeless said the ordinance to adopt the millage rates is merely an enabling ordinance to allow them to collect the money for the county and the cities and school districts in the county, which already had their elections to establish their tax rates.

“What this does is allows Ellen to actually collect the money,” Wheeless said. “I don’t know if the law has changed. But I had several attorneys I called tell me that we would have a government

shutdown in January.”

“We wouldn’t have any money,” Foote added.

The court adopted the following rates for 2017: County Roads – 1.0 real estate, 1.0 personal property County Library – .04 real estate, .04 personal property College – 4.0 real estate, 4.0 personal property West Memphis Schools – 29 real estate, 29 personal property Marion Schools – 40.70 real estate, 40.70 personal property Earle Schools – 54.80 real estate, 54.80 personal property West Memphis – 2.0 real estate, 2.0 personal property West Memphis Library – 1.8 real estate, 1.8 personal property Marion – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Earle – 2.0 real estate, 2.0 personal property Turrell – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Crawfordsville – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Gilmore – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Sunset – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Edmondson – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Horseshoe Lake – 2.5 real estate, 2.5 personal property Jericho – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Jennette – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Anthonyville – 5.0 real estate, 5.0 personal property Clarkedale – 2.5 real estate , 2.5 personal property Justice Robert Thorne, who voted for the millage rates, said he appreciates the fact that Bass brought the matter up.

“Justice Bass, I do respect your concern about this,” Thorne said.

By Mark Randall