Tagged: White County Republicans

We are Rich! White County Approves Purchase of OEM Building

Folks, we have so much money in White County, we cannot possibly spend it all!  (Well, until of course, we decide want a tax increase.  Then we are broke and that $12+ million we have in the bank is all ‘earmarked.’)  But for now, we are RICH!

In fact, we have SO MUCH of other people’s money, we are calling all realtors: come to White County!  We are so filthy rich, we will let you appraise your own buildings, and we will pay nearly double what your buildings are worth!

That is what has just happened, as the quorum court voted last night to suspend the rules and–unanimously, according to the paper–approved the purchase of a 7,500 square foot building (that previously sold for $320,000) for a price of $590,000…for 2 OEM employees!  But don’t worry!  The appraiser (a friend & donor of the judge’s) has told us that this is a GREAT deal! 

There is plenty more about this story in today’s paper that needs to be analyzed, but for now, let’s all just savor this moment of pride in our county.  We are so rich!   Maybe we should start bailing out other counties in Arkansas!  Or build a water park!  Or buy some farmland in Florida–let’s offer them double!  What a great ideas!  We can definitely afford it!

(On a serious note: the county government is actually very rich, due to natural gas exploration in the area and a jail tax that has never been repealed, but a few more projects like this and we will be hurting like most other counties in the state. Unfortunately, we do not appear to have any executive leadership that is willing to exercise any restraint–except for on road improvements, of course.  Bad days are ahead for our county unless we change the way things operate.)

Nic Horton

About these ads

White County Offers $590,000 for Building, Last Purchased for $320,000

There is another developing controversy in White County right now surrounding the purchase of a new building for the Office of Emergency Management.  Judge Mike Lincoln has located a building that he believes is suitable for the needs of OEM and available at a ‘fair price.’

The address of the building is 2301 Eastline Road in Searcy, AR (pictured right).  According to the lot’s “commercial property card,” the building is 7,500 square feet, on approximately 1.45 acres.  Now, according to the card, the property was last sold in 2006 for $320,000.

Before I am called a liar, here is a copy of the property card (Page 1) & a copy of the warranty deed as evidence.

A few other facts about the property:

  • The total new replacement cost for the structure of the building & its components is $317,666 (Page 3)
  • The Replacement Cost New Less Depreciation or RCNLD is $181, 069 (Page 3)
  • The Adjusted Cost Total is $172,016 (Page 2)
  • The building is only 20% ‘retail space,’ and 80% storage (Page 2)

There have also been a lot of questions raised about whether or not the property is connected to city sewer lines and, if not, what the cost of those improvements would be.  As far as I know, the judge has not given a definitive answer about these concerns. Continue reading →

Discussing the Searcy Budget with Mayor Morris

As I mentioned on my Twitter account, I had a good visit with Searcy Mayor David Morris on Friday morning.  We spent about two hours discussing the tax proposal and the city budget.

Here are some facts that he shared with me:

  • The 2012 budgeting process starts Monday (yesterday) and will be passed in November or December.
  • The budget “cushion”–which he defined as projected revenues minus projected spending–was about 3%-4% for 2011.
  • The mayor wants a 10% budget cushion and promises to achieve this by the end of his first term.
  • Over the past 3 years, the city has been financing a lot of capital:
  1. 15 new police cars in 2009
  2. 5 police cars in 2010
  3. 1 fire engine, priced at $490,000 with approximately 1.7% interest.  This will take 6 years to pay off.
  • They also bought 5 police cars this year, but they were paid in cash.
  • Morris says that the plans for financing these vehicles were put into place by the previous leadership and, in the case of the fire engine, could not be stopped.
  • He promised that he would not finance any more vehicles while he his mayor.
  • Morris also said that the city reduced its employees by ’3 or 4′ this year and will continue reduce the number of city employees in 2012.
  • The mayor showed me receipts from various city departments, and demonstrated the oversight process that he has implemented, which includes reviewing every receipt of every expense and requiring initials from department heads as well.

As we have been discussing, it is time for real reforms in Searcy government and I am glad to see that Mayor Morris has already started implementing some changes that will help get us where we want to be as a city.  There is still a lot to be done, but these are steps in the right direction.  In tough economic times, everyone has to tighten their belts, and city government is no exception.

I asked the mayor what it will take to have the entire city budget published online.  He said he supports this idea and hopes to accomplish this in the near future, but he is still getting settled in and trying to sort out some of the residual budgetary problems.

I will make a separate post shortly about my discussion with the mayor regarding the upcoming special tax election.

Nicholas Horton

Full Text of Searcy Bypass Tax Ordinance & Resolution

Here are the three measures that were passed at last Thursday night’s special meeting of the Searcy City Council:

  1. Ordinance 2011-29,  levying a 1% tax on all sales in the city of Searcy for 15 months.
  2. Ordinance 2011-30, which calls for a special election on the tax, to be held on December 13th, 2011.
  3. Resolution 2011-11, which expresses the city council’s support for the tax & the bypass project.

As you can see, the tax ordinance does incorporate some of the suggestions made here on The Patriot.

The Arkansas Patriot is a conservative organization dedicated to equipping citizens with the truth, insuring transparent government, and encouraging citizens to question their government boldly. Contact The Patriot at arkansaspatriot@gmail.com

House District 50 Race Shaping Up: Laforce for State Representative?

Sources close to the local Democrat county committee confirm that former Searcy mayor Belinda Laforce intends to challenge Mark Biviano (R) for Arkansas House District 50.

Laforce has recently reemerged, appearing at several community events. This has led to much speculation about her next political step. Many had assumed (and hoped) that her 20-point defeat in last year’s mayoral run-off election would end her involvement in local politics. However, her increased visibility of late, including her new position as chairman of the White County Democrats, has gotten the rumor mill churning.

Many believed White County Election Commission Chairman Winston Collier might throw his hat in the ring, but it appears Laforce will be the party’s pick, rumored to have been recruited by Governor Beebe himself.

Rep. Biviano unseated incumbent representative Monty Betts (D) in 2010 by only 108 votes.

However, Biviano compiled quite a conservative voting record in the Arkansas House before this year’s general session ended, including co-sponsorship of HB 1387 that would have lowered the income tax rate for individuals, trusts, and estates.

His record will serve as quite a contrast to Laforce’s dictatorial record as mayor that included three tax increase proposals, one of which was an A&P tax that was pushed through under Laforce’s direction and led to a prolonged legal battle. The tax was ultimately defeated by voters at the conclusion of the lawsuit against Laforce and the city of Searcy.

Also of note: Laforce has not received much more than 40% of the vote in a general election since her initial election in 2002. In 2006, she lost the general election (against two opponents) by 70 votes and went on to win the runoff by only 17 votes.

I will have more numbers & analysis of this race later this week.

Nicholas Horton

The Arkansas Patriot is a conservative organization dedicated to equipping citizens with the truth, insuring transparent government, and encouraging citizens to question their government boldly. Contact The Patriot at arkansaspatriot@gmail.com