Town halls were good, but not funding plan

The special election is coming up. Well, thumbs up to the Benton County judge for having so many town halls. It would be hard to say anyone couldn’t find one they could attend. Judge Moehring put on a good presentation. In attendance were some JPs, present and former. Most of them wanted to have input, as did a local council member and a rep of the local Libertarians. Although the Libertarian gave a civil description of why he opposed the current plan, it seemed to ruffle the feathers of a couple JPs.

My thoughts on the meeting? One of the former JPs said they have been aware they needed the courthouse for 30 years. If that’s the case, a prudent Quorum Court should have had money available by now.

Why do we have a $7 million dollar emergency fund that cannot be touched, even in the event of an emergency?

I do not care how they do courts in California. That state is bankrupt and I sincerely hope we don’t model after them.

Judge Moehring explained without the sales tax, the county would have to borrow money and cut services, creating a hardship. Let me make a suggestion: We are still one of a handful of counties that have an environmental division, currently staffing three people and I’m sure a vehicle or two. Not many counties have their own building permit inspection divisions either. Strange how other counties don’t see these ventures as essential to county government. That would be a good place to start.

Not too many years back, the county discovered some “excess funds” and split them up as bonuses to county employees. Well, hey, why raise taxes when we have excess funds?

Then there was the issue of the expense of a special election instead of having it on the last general election. And the reasoning: they didn’t want the issue to get lost in all the constitutional amendments. Let me say that anyone who ever spent much time on a school board, city council, etc., knows that tax increases will not pass on a General Election ballot, period. I would have preferred some candor: “It won’t pass if we vote during a general election. We need the courthouse and are trying to get it done.” People respond well to honesty.

While one JP said the court never checked into building a courthouse like the Libertarians proposed because they didn’t have a place to check on it, truth is they don’t have a solid bid on the one they’re proposing either. Well, they’ve had 30 years to get one.

Perhaps the best thing to say would be, if we do this now and do it downtown, then the land will be donated and a 400-spot parking garage will be built at no expense to the taxpayer. That reeks of logic, and a little more candor. One-eighth of a cent isn’t much; it just shouldn’t have been necessary.

GEORGE W. WEEKS Centerton