The El Dorado City Council Finance Committee signed off this week on budget requests totaling $68,200 from the fire, police and public works departments.
City Treasurer Bonnie Wyles reported Monday that sales tax revenues are up for the first half of 2018.
Following a $1 million revenue shortfall in the 2017 general fund, city officials are still keeping a close eye on budget trends and taking a conservative approach to capital expenditures.
Earlier this year, the finance committee and full city council approved $819,000 in capital expenditures for the police, fire and police departments after putting such purchases on hold last year.
Finance committee members used 2015 revenue as a benchmark with which to compare 2017 and 2018 numbers.
“Twenty-sixteen was the lowest. Sixteen was really bad,” Wyles said Monday. “In 2017, we averaged right around 2015.”
She said 2018 revenues are outpacing 2017, 2016 and 2015 numbers.
Mayor Frank Hash and Council Member Mary McAdams noted that February and April revenues have been the lowest of the year so far.
“In April, we didn’t do as well as 2017,” Wyles said.
She noted that the El Dorado Works and city quarter-cent sales taxes were up in April, compared to April 2017.
“It’s summertime. We seem to be looking better each month. Hopefully, we’ll continue to peak and get better as we go into the holidays,” Council Member Willie McGhee said.
Jail bill
In the first quarter of 2018, the city council signed off on a capital improvement budget of $179,000 for five new SUVs and related equipment for the police department.
On Monday, Police Chief Billy White asked for $42,000 to help cover the bill for housing city inmates in the Union County Jail.
Since 2016, city and Union County officials have been involved in ongoing discussions about the matter, which arose when the Union County Quorum Court proposed to raise the daily rate per inmate from $30 - $35 in early 2016.
After a series of meetings with county officials, city council members stuck with an offer of a flat rate of $162,000 a year.
Last year, White returned with another proposal of $120,000, explaining that a daily rate of $50 is closer to actual, annual costs of roughly $81,500.
At the time, Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts noted that the jail covers meals and medical, clothing and other expenses for inmates.
White told city officials Monday that the jail bill averages $13,500 a month, and the county has continued to send a bill based on the $162,000 flat rate.
The police chief said the city did not pay the full amount for bills that were sent in January and February and remitted payments that are based on the $120,000 rate.
White also referred to a recent Arkansas Supreme Court summary judgment that reversed a lower, circuit court ruling that defined prisoners of municipalities as detainees who are charged with violating municipal ordinances.
Supreme Court justices contend that the term includes offenders who are arrested by city law enforcement officers and transported to the county jail for incarceration from the point of intake until offenders are charged, sentenced and released.
The ruling was made in the case of Mississippi County, Arkansas v. City of Blytheville.
On Monday, White said the reversal effectively reinstated the $162,000 flat rate.
County officials have said city inmates make up about 70 percent of the jail population and that a daily rate works best for smaller Union County cities that have police departments who deliver fewer inmates to the jail for incarceration.
Roberts said he would notify other cities, including Smackover and Junction City, that they will be required to pay a daily rate for housing their inmates in the jail.
White also asked the finance committee Monday to assist with replacing a police cruiser that was recently totaled in an accident.
He said an officer was struck and a woman, who admitted striking the officer’s vehicle, was cited in the accident.
White said the city’s automobile insurance coverage will pay the estimated value of $8,000 for the 2013 model cruiser.
To purchase a new vehicle would be $26,000, White said, adding that existing equipment could be transferred to the new vehicle.
Fire department
Fire Chief Chad Mosby said capital improvement requests totaling of $177,500 have been fulfilled.
City officials approved the amount earlier this year for three new cardiac monitors, 45 new sets of protective gear and a generator for a heating and air unit for Central Fire Station.
Mosby said that while other repairs were being made to the heating and cooling units at Central, the contractor discovered that the heat exchangers were shot on two of the four units.
“They’re cooling right now but those heat exchangers are rusted and falling apart, and they will not heat. So those are going to be some expenditures that will be coming up,” Mosby said.
He said the fire department came in $9,800 under-budget on the $177,5500 allotment.
“On those heart monitors, we were able to trade some equipment in and negotiate some lower costs,” Mosby said.
He said the upcoming repairs to the heating and cooling units are estimated at $15,000.
The finance committee approved $4,200 to couple with the $9,800 to cover the cost of the repairs.
New garbage truck
The committee also voted on $5,000 to help expedite the purchase a new rear-loading sanitation truck.
Robert Edmonds, director of public works, said one city garbage truck failed and another recently caught fire.
The cost to replace the one of the trucks is $190,000 and Edmonds said that with solid waste revenue up, the city has $185,000 cash on hand.
“If we put in the order now, we could have it next Monday, and we’ll have the other $5,000 when it’s time to pay for it,” he said.
He said the city uses two rear-loader trucks to run commercial garbage collection routes.
Three side-arm loaders are used for residential routes.
For the truck that caught fire, Edmonds said the box can be placed on another chassis.
The Finance Committee agreed to place the budget requests on the agenda for the regular city council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.