Donations a possible tool for shoring up city budget

City manager says ask Arkansas-side taxpayers for help

Texarkana, Ark., City Hall is seen in December 2015.
Texarkana, Ark., City Hall is seen in December 2015.

Faced with decreasing revenue, City Manager Kenny Haskin is proposing a novel way for Texarkana, Ark., to raise money: The city should ask for donations.

Haskin plans to present the city's Board of Directors with a plan to attach a $10 voluntary fee to residents' property tax bills. The fee would automatically be assessed, but taxpayers could opt out and choose not to pay it.

The board must approve the plan before it can take effect, but no election is necessary. Haskin likes his chances.

"I'm very optimistic about the potential outcome. This approach makes sense, and it's voluntary. No one is forced to do anything," he said, adding that the proposal aligns with goals set by the board and Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell.

"In my conversations last month with the mayor and the board, they endorsed the idea of me being more proactive and a little more aggressive in my approach toward tackling" new revenue generation, he said.

The money would be earmarked for the city's general fund and used to support the Animal Care and Adoption Center, capital improvement projects, Texarkana Regional Airport, police officer and firefighter salaries, economic development, and marketing.

"Earmarking it city general gives the mayor and the board of directors the complete flexibility needed when deciding on how and when the money would be spent," Haskin said.

Haskin declined to estimate how much revenue the fee could create, though it certainly would "be more than we're receiving now," he said.

More than 28,500 taxpayers would have this option, Finance Director TyRhonda Henderson said, so the fee potentially could bring in upward of $285,000 a year.

Haskin's impression is that many residents would take advantage of the opportunity to give to the city.

"There are people that I have spoken with throughout the city that have indicated to me that they wouldn't mind paying a little bit more to help out," he said.

Because the proposal is in its early stages, when it might go into effect is uncertain, and Haskin has not discussed the details of collecting the voluntary fee with any Miller County officials, he said.

The plan comes as the city tightens its belt and pursues new means of increasing income.

The most recent city budget anticipates a 3.43 percent increase in expenditures and a 1.35 percent decrease in revenues this year, and it includes more than $600,000 in across-the-board spending cuts. Flat or falling franchise fees and alcohol sales taxes are largely to blame for declining revenue, Henderson has said.

The city's property and sales tax rates are at the maximum allowed by state law, so raising taxes is not an option. To boost revenue, city staff recently have proposed adding or increasing fees for various animal shelter and fire department services, a move that could generate about $119,000 a year.

The Garland County, Ark., Quorum Court last November voted to assess a similar voluntary $10 tax to support animal control services, prompting numerous calls to the county tax collector after property tax statements recently were mailed, according to a Hot Springs Sentinel-Record report published Feb. 27.

On Twitter: @RealKarlRichter

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