Benton voters will go to the polls on Nov. 10 to vote on a proposed half-cent sales tax designated

for public safety. Their vote will determine the level of services that can be delivered by three vital city departments: police, fire and communications.

The city currently has no tax designated specifically for these departments, all of which are funded out of the general fund.

In the beginningThe existing 1.5 percent

sales tax includes specified amounts allocated for parks and streets, but no specific amount for other departments.

Approved in December 2004, it was a renewal of a tax that had expired. The structure of the tax changed when it was placed on the 2004 ballot. Instead of two separate taxes as originally approved, the renewed tax was combined into one.

In 1998, voters had approved a 1 percent tax and a separate half-cent tax. The half-cent tax specified that it would create “a new source of revenue to oper- ate,

maintain and/or construct park facilities, water reservoir, police facilities and apparatus, and firefighting facilities and apparatus and for a source of revenue to finance such operation, maintenance

and construction costs.”The 1998 half-cent tax ordinance noted that revenues received

from the tax for the first 24 months could be used for capi-tal improvements, including the construction of new facili-ties.

Both taxes included a sun-set clause and expired at the

end of 2004.The new tax — the combined

1.5 percent tax — was approved in June 2004, six months before the previous tax’s expiration date.

The earlier half-cent portion of the tax revenue provided funding for public safety facilities, but this new tax no longer did. Instead, it noted that one-fourth of the new measure would set up a restrict-ed account to be used for street improvements, including curbs and gutters, drainage or other specific street improvement projects; and another one-fourth would be placed in a separate restricted account to be used for operation and maintenance of parks and recreation facilities.

The revised tax structure was approved by voters, but

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SunDAYOctOber 25, 2009

central Arkansas ranks among top metro economies

Volume 133 Number 295 n 3 Sections 36 Pages n Home of Daphne Stark n $1.25

RUN DOWN BY REBELS

SPORTS 9A

ECONOMY STUDY

CITY HONORED

benton recognized for volunteerism with state award

Benton is one of 12 communities selected to receive the 2009 Arkansas Volunteer Community of the Year Award.

Others receiving recog-nition for their volunteer efforts are Bella Vista, Brookland, Clarkridge, Clarksville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Heber Springs, Lake City, Maumelle, Norfork and Van Buren.

First-time recipients of the award are Benton, Brookland and Lake City. Recipients of the award from previous years are Bella Vista, Clarkridge, Clarksville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Heber Springs, Maumelle, Norfork and Van Buren.

The Arkansas Volunteer Community of the Year Awards is sponsored by the Governor’s Office, the Arkansas Municipal League and the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Volunteerism. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department provides signs announcing the Volunteer Community of the Year

InDeXObituaries...........................3aeditOrial...............................4aspOrts...........................8a-10aliViNG................................1b-6bClassifieds................11a-13a

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Write: p.O. box 207,benton, ar 72018

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Courier

hogs falter against ole miss

TULSA — A new study shows the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro area econo-mies rank among the top 10 in the country thanks in part to a thriving oil and natural gas industry.

The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway metro area was ranked No. 4 in the country.

Using data and analysis from the Brookings Institution’s new MetroMonitor study, BusinessWeek.com selected the top 40 economies based on job growth, employment, economic growth and home prices.

Oklahoma City ranked No. 3 on the list, with Tulsa at No. 7.

Several factors have helped Oklahoma’s metro areas, includ-ing that recession took grip in the state much later than elsewhere, explained Steve Agee, professor of econom-ics at Oklahoma City University and chairman of the Oklahoma City branch board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

While the state’s unemployment rate

FOUR FOR FOURsaline county teams all win their games

VOLUNTEER, page 6A

Associated Press

SPORTS 8A

Saline County’S newS SourCe SinCe 1876

Study: Benton has lowest per capita rate of officers

In a recent study by the Courier, the Benton Police Department and Benton Fire Department had the lowest per capita rate of officers in comparison to several other Arkansas cities of similar size.

The amount of active officers and firefighters from Russellville, West Memphis and Texarkana was com-pared to the amount of active officers in Benton. These towns were chosen

because their population is similar to Benton, whose population is 29,452 as of September 2009. The 2009 populations of the cities range from 25,000 to 29,600. All of these cities sit directly on the interstate.

To figure the per capita rate, the amount of active officers in a depart-ment was divided by one thousandth of the population of the city. This figure is referred to as the amount of officers per a thousand residents.

PER CAPITA, page 5AECONOMY, page 7A

by Lynda Hollenbeckstaff Writer

A taxing question of safetyVoters will decide whether new tax will fund fire, police, 911

by Lynda Hollenbeckstaff Writer Police dePartment trendS

Fire dePartment trendS

GRAPHICS BY CAROLINE ZILK / CourierHISTORY, page 5A

by Molly M. Flemingstaff Writer

Chiefs: Cuts likely if tax fails

A lot is on the line for pubic safety officers and Benton residents on Nov. 10 when residents will vote in a special election on a proposed one-half percent local sales and use tax for public safety.

Mary Kay Mooney has studied the issue with the Citizens Public Safety Committee for the past two years. She said she will be extremely disappointed if the ordinance does not pass.

“I will be very sad not only because we have really worked dili-

gently to get this done; I feel like it will be a huge loss for our city in so many different ways.”

That’s because without the tax, Benton will likely see cutbacks in the number of police and fire personnel it currently has on staff, officials say.

The citizens’ committee gave sev-eral specific recommendations for the allocations of the funds that would be acquired through the new sales tax, including reinstating advanced life support services, building a new fire station in the northeast quadrant of the city, hiring 12 new firefighters and 14 new police officers.

by caroline Zilkstaff Writer

WHAT IF, page 6A

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Sunday, October 25, 2009 Courier 5AProcess Color

some have since said they did not realize that the tax structure had changed. They did not understand that public safety was no longer included in the half-cent por-tion.

“There was confusion on the part of voters,” said a representative of the Citizens Public Safety Committee, which has studied the city’s public safety needs for the last two years.

This is also the group that has recom-mended the half-cent public safety tax proposal.

“This is why we have been specific in the ballot language in this proposal,” said Dave Mattingly, chairman of the citizens’ group.

the proposed taxThe new ballot proposal states specifi-

cally that the funding raised by the new tax can go to no other source other than public safety, said Robert Edwards, anoth-er member of the group.

Edwards pointed this out in a recent town hall meeting in which a resident — a self-avowed opponent to any new taxes — said she could support the proposal if she were guaranteed that the tax revenue would not go to any other source.

In addition, the new tax would be set up in such a manner that there would be oversight of its usage — to make certain that it will be spent exactly as it’s intend-ed, Mattingly said.

The proposed sales tax ordinance states that the money it generates must be spent on fire, police and 911 com-munications personnel costs; to acquire apparatus and equipment; to acquire, construct, improve, expand, equip and furnish new or existing facilities; and to establish and maintain an advanced life support rescue service within the city.

If passed, the revenue generated by the tax will be maintained in a fund that shall be know as the Public Safety Fund.

“We’ve got to face the fact that we have to pay for the services that we want,” Mattingly said. “If we don’t increase the funding, the consequences are fewer services. The population is going to con-tinue increasing, and as it does, crime will increase.”

Mattingly pointed out the difficulty school district officials had in trying to obtain voter approval for a millage increase for improvement projects, par-ticularly the renovation of Benton High School.

It took two millage elections for voters to approve an increase, he noted.

“It was difficult, but enough people in this town set the word ‘tax’ aside and did what I consider a progressive thing,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is a pro-gressive thing.”

Mattingly pointed out that the citizens’ committee members are “about as anti-tax a group as you could find,” but they determined there is no other way to bring in sufficient funding to keep up with the city’s growth and needs.

“We did an eight-year study of the city’s expenditures and revenues as it applied to the general fund,” he said. “We specifically targeted the review of the general fund because that is where public safety is funded. When we finished that review, what we found was that the rev-enues were not growing anywhere near the proportion that is required to keep up with a significant growth in population.”

He noted that the city’s population at the end of the group’s study was shown to be up 29 percent in that eight-year period. “We’re told now that it’s up over 30 percent,” he said.

“In 2000, the population was 21,906, and it’s now over 29,000,” he said.

The committee’s study found that 81 percent of the city’s net expenditures has gone toward public safety — police, fire and communications — for the past eight years.

“Here’s the problem,” Mattingly explained. “When you look at the rev-enue side to support those expenditures — fees, fines, permits — that’s all the revenue you put into the general fund. And that single biggest source of revenue is not growing proportionately. Then the infrastructure for police, fire and commu-nications begins to stagnate.”

Mattingly said the sales tax revenue has gone up $1.2 million to $4.8 million in eight years, while the population has increased significantly faster.

“The end result is we don’t have enough money,” he said.

So the population is now being served by a smaller percentage of police and fire officials than it was eight years ago, as the number of calls for help is increasing exponentially, the numbers show.

On the police department side, there were 13,239 calls in 2001, and in 2008 there were 21,576 — an increase of 63 percent. Meanwhile, the number of offi-cers has not kept up with that increase, growing 12 percent, or from 50 in 2000 to 56 this year.

The picture is even more dramatic on the fire department side. In 2000, there were 1,673 runs and in 2008 there were 2,761 — and increase of 65 percent — yet the number of firefighters has actually decreased, from 56 to 53.

In regard to the upcoming election, Mattingly said the voters must decide the level of services they want.

“We’re giving them the facts, and they must make a decision on what’s the right thing to do for the city.”

Early voting on the public safety tax proposal begins next Monday, Nov. 2.

HistoryFrom page 1A

$8.2MJust over $8.2 million, or 81

percent, of the general fund in 2008 went toward public safety

departments including police, fire and 911 communications.

8.4%Just over $873,000 went to the mayor’s office and to elected

officials.

5.8%Just over $605,000 went toward

the city’s community development departments.

3.9%about $404,000 went toward the

city’s legal department.

>1%Just over $93,000 went toward technical and professional sup-

port.

>.5%about $26,000 went to pay for the

city clerk’s office.

HOW THE GENERAL FUND IS SPENT

The Benton Police Department has the lowest officers per thousand with 1.89, though there are 56 officers on the force. The Benton Fire Department also has the low-est officers per thousand with 1.79, despite having 53 active firefighters.

“[This officer per thousand rate] concerns me for the safety of the firefighters, but it also concerns me for their effective-ness,” Benton Fire Chief Ben Blankenship said. “They actu-ally need another team member on each of the companies to increase their efficiency. This would allow them to be more proactive as far as their firefight-ing and more prone to take an offensive attack as opposed to having to alert to a defensive.”

“[This officer per thousand rate] probably explains the rea-son for a lot of things. It prob-ably explains why we haven’t been able to effect the crime rate as effectively as we should,” Benton Police Chief Kirk Lane said. “We finally filled all our positions at the end of last year, and we are starting to reduce the crime rate on some of our crime categories. In relation to

the overall stuff, our call level has gone up so we’ve spent a lot of time being reactive and not being proactive. We’re pass-ing the bad guys on the way to the calls. We’d really like to be more proactive.”

Of the cities Benton was com-pared to, the Russellville Police Department had the smallest number of officers on the force with 54, but since its population is less, the average officers per thousand came out to 2.11.

The Russellville Fire Department had the highest officers per thousand, in com-parison to other fire depart-ments. The RFD had 2.44 officers per thousand, with 55 firefighters.

Of the police depart-ments, the Texarkana Police Department had the highest number of officers and the highest officers per thousand. The department has 81 officers and an officer per thousand rate of 2.73. The population of Texarkana is 29,624. The fire department in Texarkana had an officer per thousand rate of only 1.92, the second-lowest in the study.

In West Memphis, the offi-cer per thousand of the police department was 2.68 with 78 officers while the officer per thousand of the fire department was 2.97 with 60 officers.

Per capitaFrom page 1A

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anytime.www.bentoncourier.com

Where the money goesOf the 1.5 percent sales tax

that Benton residents currently pay, none of it is specifically ear-marked, by law, for public safety.

In addition, less than 1 percent of the tax is even available for public safety, and not all of it can be used for that. That’s because only 1 percent of the current sales tax goes to the city’s gen-eral fund, which is responsible for paying for public safety as well as for the operation of the city government.

One-fourth of a percent of the current sales tax is earmarked by law for street improvements, and another one-fourth must be set aside only for parks and recre-ation. The rest — which totaled about $10.4 million last year — goes into the general fund.

Of the $8.2 million expended last year on public safety, $3.9 million went to the police depart-ment, and $3.7 million went to

the fire department, with the remainder going toward 911 communications.

The sales tax revenue accounts for about 46 percent of the general fund, and it has been growing at a rate of about 4 percent per year — not nearly enough to keep up with the city’s population growth rate of 36 per-cent since 2000, city officials say.

“Revenues are not growing proportionately to population growth,” said Dave Mattingly, chairman of the Citizens Public Safety Committee, which studied the problem of finding funding for public safety for the last two years. The committee ultimately recommended the proposed pub-lic safety tax that will appear on the ballot in Benton on Nov. 10.

“A major portion of what’s hap-pening, our growth areas, are on outlying parts of Benton, and more than half of these new residents are not spending their disposable income in Benton,” he explained.

courier Staff

6A Courier Sunday, October 25, 2009

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The list goes on, but Mooney said none of the rec-ommendations will be com-pleted if voters do not approve the sales tax.

According to officials, per-

sonnel will be hit the hardest.“There is a possibility of

layoffs,” Mooney said.Benton Police Chief Kirk

Lane said he has been has instructed to cut his 2010 physical budget by 10 percent.

“My normal projected budget is about $4.4 million. I’ve been asked to provide an amended budget with a

10 percent reduction for next year,” he said.

Lane said the revised budget is a work in progress. However, cuts to police per-sonnel are a possibility.

“About 30-35 percent of the cuts my staff has looked at would come out of main-tenance,” he said. “The rest would come out of personnel.”

However, Lane said it is not time to worry yet.

“I don’t want to run around and say the sky is falling. We were asked to consider that as a work in progress for a worst-case scenario.”

Benton Fire Chief Ben Blankenship said the city finance director has also asked him to make cuts. He said the only place those cuts can be made is personnel.

“We’re looking at cutting five positions to meet that requirement,” he said.

And the fire department is already understaffed, Blankenship noted. “We don’t have the resources we need to provide protection to the entire city,” he said. “We’re

dependent upon Bryant to help us in the northeast quad-rant.”

Blankenship said he has looked at other ways to cut funds as well. He has done everything from rationing fuel for the fire engines to reevalu-ating the department’s insur-ance rating position.

“I’m looking at every alter-native I can,” he said. “We are not spending anything we do not have to right now in hopes that everything we save can be carried over to 2010.”

Blankenship said he has never laid off a firefighter in 38 years, and he doesn’t want to start now.

“I will do everything in my power to avoid it,” he said.

While Chiefs Blankenship and Lane are concerned about their officers, Mooney said she is concerned for the entire city of Benton.

“Our future does not look very good if this does not pass,” she said. “It’s going to be a blow to the city. … It’s pretty grim, and it’s only get-ting worse, unfortunately.”

What ifFrom page 1

designation. The signs are placed at prominent loca-tions along highways of the winning cities.

Angela Ross, administra-tive assistant to Benton Mayor Rick Holland, pre-pared the city’s application for the honor.

“With volunteerism being so dear to my heart, it was really a privilege for me to get to nominate the city of Benton because I’ve known for so long how many dedi-cated volunteers we have,” Ross said.

“I’m really appreciative to all those organizations that were so willing to gather their information and pres-ent it to me,” Ross said.

She said the application pointed out that 8,675 volun-teers contributed 170,481.9 hours in volunteer activities.

“The city of Benton has long been known as the Heart of Arkansas,” Ross said. “You might think this is because it’s the geographical center of the state, but it’s really because of the outstanding volunteer organizations and the many volunteers in our community.

“Benton is the heart and volunteerism is the beat of that heart,” she added.

Mayor Rick Holland com-mended Ross’ work on this project and especially com-mended the local residents who contribute service hours through many organi-zations to make the commu-nity a better place to live.

“When Willie Floyd, a former alderman, left office,

one of the things he said he’d like to see Benton do is become a volunteer com-munity of the year,” Holland said. “Angela Ross took on that project this year. It was a tremendous amount of work collecting hours from many organizations that volunteer to make this a better place. She submitted the application, and we were chosen as one of the 12.

“Benton is truly a great place to live and one of the things that makes is so great are our people,” Holland said. “This is just an exam-ple of how hard our citizens work to make this a better place to live in.

“Angela spent countless hours working on this,” Holland added. “I realize there’s no way we could have gotten all of the vol-unteer hours in. It was an impossible job to count all of the volunteers and all of the hours they spent working for our community.”

The city’s award will be presented at the Arkansas Municipal League’s Winter Conference, which will be held Jan. 13-15 in Little Rock. A panel of citizens from across the state served on the award selection com-mittee.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Volunteerism promotes and supports volunteerism in the private, nonprofit and governmental sectors as a means of enhancing the quality of life for all Arkansans. Training and technical assistance for volunteer program manage-ment are available by calling 682-7540 or (toll-free) 800-482-5850.

VolunteerFrom page 1

Jim HarrisTuesdays in the

CourierJim Harris of Bryant is the president and

CEO of Harris Oil and Timber Company. He has covered Arkansas politics for almost 20 years. He has been the press secretary of former U.S. Rep. Ray Thornton, U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey and Gov. Mike Huckabee.

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Sunday, October 25, 2009 Courier 7AObItuArIeS

Patricia L. HayesPatricia L. Hayes, 76, of Bauxite, died Saturday, Oct. 24,

2009. She was born July 16, 1933, in Saline County. Mrs. Hayes was retired from Saline Memorial Hospital as

a L.P.N. after 33 years and was a member of West Bauxite Missionary Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank Barto and Gertrude Viola Caple, and five brothers, J.P. Shore, Bobby W., Raymond S., Lloyd E. and Calvin F. Caple.

Survivors include her husband, Buford Hayes Jr. of Bauxite; two sons, Terry Wayne Hayes and wife Judy of Traskwood and Phillip Glen Hayes and wife Teresa of Bauxite; daughter Diana Lynn Thompson and husband Larry of Benton; brother Tommy L. Caple and wife Dora Olene of Benton; sister Martha L. Crain and husband Dewayne of Benton; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.

Funeral service will be 2 p.m. Tuesday at Ashby Funeral Home with burial following in Social Hill Cemetery. Melvin Burris will be officiating.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.

Online guest book at www.ashbyfuneralhome.com.

Agness Nancy BlaylockAgness Nancy Littleton Blaylock, 88, of Benton, died

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009 at Saline Memorial Hospital Hospice House in Bryant.

She was born in Yell County on Aug. 27, 2009 to the late Raymond and Jennie Tapp Littleton.

Mrs. Blaylock was a retired homemaker and attended New Summit Church of God in Benton. She loved being outdoors and anything to do with nature including gardening.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Everette Blaylock, and four sisters.

She is survived by son Harold Blaylock and wife Linda; daughter Laverne Malone and hus-band Archie; grandchildren DeWayne Blaylock and wife Karen, Teresa Blaylock, Lorraine Hicks and husband Lance, Steve Malone and wife Mary, and Mike Malone and wife Lisa; eleven great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grand-children.

Funeral service will be at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Moore’s Chapel in Waveland with Saline Memorial Hospice Chaplain Kim Hammer officiating. Interment will follow in Moore’s Chapel Cemetery. Services provided by Roller-Ballard Funeral Home in Benton, 315-4047.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Roller-Ballard Funeral Home.

Family comments: The family would like to thank the staff at Saline Memorial Hospital Hospice House in Bryant for the tender and loving care given to Agness.

Online guestbook: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/ballard.

Blaylock

Visit us online anytime.www.bentoncourier.com

essentially doubled from 3.2 percent in February 2008 to 6.7 percent in September, that represent-ed a fall from 6.8 percent in August and gave the state the fifth-lowest rate in the nation.

“When people say we’re recession-proof, that’s nonsense,” Agee said. “We’re not recession-proof, but, relatively speaking, when you look at the rest of the country we’re so much better off ‚Äî No. 1 because we start-ed off at a better position.”

Neither of two the Oklahoma metro areas had the housing bubble that the rest of the country experienced and Oklahoma bankers have been more cautious because of lessons learned during the oil bust of the 1980s.

“We had a very strong

oil and gas energy econ-omy and a strong agri-culture commodity-based economy up until about the third quarter of last year, and then it started to really affect us,” Agee said.

Although oil prices fell off dramatically, they have climbed back to around $80 a barrel, which is good for the state’s economy. Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa have some prominent energy compa-nies, including Williams Cos Inc. in Tulsa and Devon Energy Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. in Oklahoma City, Agee said.

The study ranked San Antonio the No. 1 city on the list, followed by the Austin-Round Rock Texas metro area at No. 2. The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway metro was ranked No. 4, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area fifth, and Baton Rouge, La. No. 6.

EconomyFrom page 1A

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