The October Hempstead County Quorum Court meeting Thursday evening was almost exclusively concerned with moving money around from account to account to fill budget shortfalls or to pay one-time bonuses. The meeting can be seen in its entirety below this story.
In all, five ordinances were passed on unanimous voice votes.
An ordinance transferring and appropriating funds from jail booking fee to the Jail. This transfers $95,000 collected from jail booking fees to defray cost overruns over the projected budget for the running of the Hempstead County Jail.
An ordinance establishing the ARPA revenue replacement fund 1006. This establishes a separate funding category of moneys taken from allotments from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to better track what is spent from that allotment for revenue replacement.
An ordinance transferring and appropriating funds from the ARPA revenue replacement fund 1006 to the road. This would take $245,000 from the ARPA revenue replacement fund and transfer it for use to lease machinery ($105,000), asphalt ($100,000) and gravel and dirt ($40,000).
An ordinance transferring and appropriating funds for a one-time bonus from the ARPA revenue replacement fund 1006. This would award a bonus to county workers of $1,000 to full-time employees who have served six months, $500 to part-time employees who have served six months. A total $258,890.25 will be transferred from ARPA toward this purpose. A question was asked whether amounts taken from ARPA toward defraying Social Security taxes was prohibited by regulations in ARPA that prevent use of its funds for pensions. Hempstead County Attorney Jim Burke replied that Social Security was not considered a pension for the purposes of the legislation.
An ordinance transferring and appropriating funds from Voluntary tax fund for longevity pay for deputies. Shortfalls to pay deputies longevity pay from the projected 2022 budget for 2022 will be funded from a three transfers totalling $13,024 from the voluntary tax fund established in 2015.
The Court also heard from Alice Adams representing the Central Arkansas Development Council in Hope, which helps people in financial difficulties pay bills for utilities and housing. CADC is located at 200 South Elm Street, Suite 2.
Sheriff James Singleton announced that the County Jail’s doctor is increasing his fee for services to the inmates from $1,800 to $3,000 a month because of a rise in the cost of malpractice insurance after the previous insurer Association of Arkansas Counties decided to no longer represent counties in lawsuits. An adjustment to the 2023 budget will be made to account for this increased payment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPBoWbECk3M