By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
A rollback in millage won't really mean school districts and other entities which use millage will see their revenue fall -- rather, it means they will get a smaller increase than they would otherwise.
That was the word from County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, on the rollbacks which have been enforced in St. Francis County.
It all has to do with Amendment 59, which prohibits revenue from millage from increasing more than 10 percent from one year to another. The county recently underwent a reassessment.
"The valuation has gone up," said Smith, "and the law says you cannot collect more than a 10 percent increase. You have to roll the millage back to get the correct amount."
She said entities which have gotten a rollback will still actually see an increase in revenue. She said the decisions on rollbacks comes from Little Rock.
Smith said the Assessment Coordination Division in Little Rock gets reports on assessed valuations from county assessors, "and they figure it from there."
The Forrest City School District's tax rate stood at 28.5 mills and is being rolled back to 27 on real estate and 28.3 on personal property.
Forrest City School Superintendent Lee Vent said the Amendment 59 rule does actually cost the school district money, technically.
"Where we really lost money is when we were out of compliance," said Vent. "The state rate is based on 20 percent of value, and when you fall below that you lose money."
Vent said the reappraisal brought the school district back into compliance. However, he said the money the school district would have collected had it been in compliance all along, is lost forever. "I wish before they had rolled the millage back, they had let us make up what we had lost. But we have to comply with Amendment 59."
According to Smith's office, the following rollbacks will be in effect in addition to the Forrest City School's rollback:
The Palestine-Wheatley School District was at 29.2 mills, and is rolled back to 28.9 mills on real estate and 28.9 on personal.
The Hughes School District did not have a rollback.
The City of Forrest City's millage stood at 3.9 and is rolled back to 2.8 for real estate, while personal stays unchanged at 3.9 mills.
The St. Francis County Library had 2 mills, rolled back to 1.9 on real estate and unchanged at 2 mills on personal.
The City of Madison was at 5 mills, rolled back to 4.7 on real estate and unchanged at 5 mills on personal.
The City of Widener rolled back from 5 mills to 4.5 mills on real and personal taxes.
The City of Colt was rolled back from 5 to 4.2 mills on real estate and 4.6 on personal.
The City of Caldwell went from 4.6 mills to 4 on real estate, and from 5 mills to 4.8 on personal.
The City of Palestine went from 1.4 mills to 1.3 mills on both real estate and property taxes.
The cities of Wheatley and Hughes had no rollback.
The county millage was rolled back from 5 mills to 4.9 on real estate, and stayed at 5 mills on personal.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Although the Feb. 12 deadline has passed, St. Francis County Assessor Craig Jones says letters regarding the $300 homeowner tax credit are still being accepted at his office.
"Even though the due date has passed, people can still send the letters back in because the credit is still available. Homeowners have until Oct. 31 to actually receive the credit. We got the letters out so that we could make it easier on the homeowners," said Jones.
Jones said that his office is currently sorting through the letters it has received in order to find out if there may be questions on forms that need to be answered.
"We will spend the next few weeks working on these letters and making sure that we have all of the information we need in order to process the letters. We want to make sure that everything is in order and everyone that qualifies gets the credit before we send them through to the state," said Jones.
Jones cautioned homeowners not to throw away the letters simply because the due date has passed. "You can get your credit when you go to pay this year's taxes. This just makes the process easier, and will clear up some of the problems," he said.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
A new police chief has been hired for Palestine.
Stanley Barnes, who currently works with the Arkansas Highway Patrol, was approved unanimously as the city's new police chief. Barnes will retire from his current position on March 21, and begins his duties with the city on March 26.
In other business, councilmen appeared divided on a proposed pay raise for city employee Randy Taylor. Taylor requested a raise after the council approved raises for the mayor and her secretary last month.
Taylor previously worked for the city in the sanitation department and was paid $9 an hour. He was recently hired back in the same position, but at a rate of $8 per hour. The $1 raise was approved for Taylor.
The council agreed to review pay raises for all city employees instead of giving a raise to only one.
Councilman Terry Dover suggested the city develop a system to give employees an across-the-board raise.
Councilwoman Carolyn Burnett responded, "We need to not just give a formal raise to the employees, but it needs to be based on an evaluation of job performance. Those who do not do a good job, should not get the same raise as those who work hard for the city."
Councilmen also approved Ricky Plunkett to fill a vacant seat on the council. Plunkett will be sworn in at the March meeting as the councilman representing Ward 1.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The second annual Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Arkansas will be held Saturday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m. at Lake Dunn in Village Creek State Park.
According to Anita Vandiver, with the St. Francis County Chapter of Special Olympics, plunges in other parts of the state have been successful this year, and the cooperation of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is a plus.
"This year plunges in Little Rock and Fort Smith have raised $23,000 and $15,000, respectively, for those local chapters and while we don't expect to earn as much as those two, we were successful last year, and expect to have a good event again this year," Vandiver said.
"The law enforcement agencies are extremely helpful in getting this organized and getting funds raised. This year we have the Federal Correctional Institution-Forrest City Employees Club, the Arkansas State Police and the Forrest City Police Department all involved from St. Francis County, and we have the Wynne and West Memphis Police Departments that will be participating as well," said Vandiver.
Awards will be presented during this year's plunge to the plunger with the best costume, male and female; the most scantily clad plunger, male and female; the team raising the most money and the team spirit award.
According to Vandiver individuals interested in entering the plunge may contact Howard Smith with the Arkansas State Police Department, Debra Ford with the Forrest City Police Department.
A post-plunge party will be hosted by at Cabin 8 at Village Creek with free admission to all plungers and $5 at the door for guests.
Special Olympics Arkansas (SOAR), is a non-profit organization that was established in 1974. They provide year round sports training and competitions in 18 different sports for more than 13,000 disabled Arkansas citizens. For more information on the plunge, contact Vandiver at 633-8042.
Students in the Forrest City School District will not be in class on Monday, Feb. 19.
Classes will be out that day in honor of the Presidents' Day holiday.
Classes will resume at the normal time on Tuesday.