By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Five of the six St. Francis County elected officials presented budgets that stayed within the figures offered to them by the St. Francis County budget committee this week, while the sixth, St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman, is asking for close to $190,000 in additional appropriations for 2002.
Quorum court justices discussed ways to find a solution to the problem facing the county in regard to the sheriff's office, but no solutions were found during Thursday night's meeting.
According to figures supplied by the sheriff's office, additional funding of $54,521.36 for deputies, $16,502.31 for the collector's office and $118,856.13 for the county jail would be needed to operate next year.
"When we took out the money for salaries and fringes and things that we have no control over, we would have around $38,000 to operate the law enforcement portion of our budget. There is no way we can operate on those figures. Gasoline alone ran us around $35,000 last year. There is just no way that we can operate on that amount of money," Parkman said.
Justice Evans Seawood said that under the current circumstances he could not support a budget plan which would call for cuts to the sheriff's department.
"Our deputies are not just dead weight. They arrest people, and when they do that, people have to pay fines. That means they are making money for the county. I can't see these drastic cuts going to the sheriff's office, and I will vote against anything cutting that department. Right now, we have too many things that are happening in our country, and I don't think we need to be playing with that department," said Seawood.
Justice Henry Wilkinson agreed. "I'm like Mr. Seawood because I see some figures on here that disturb me. Not only is the fuel $15,000 less, but there's nothing on here for automobile repairs, and you're suggesting $15,000 for that. If my math is right, the sheriff is asking to take about a 13 percent cut less than what he is operating on this year, but we can't spend what we don't have, and all of the news out of Little Rock is bleak."
According to Parkman, the increases he is asking for would still place his department below the funding he had last year.
"Last year we were appropriated $1,821,963. The proposed budget I'm asking for is $1,504,340.15 which is $317,622.85 less than what we had this year," Parkman said.
The additional appropriation in the collector's office would be for the hiring of an additional staff member. According to Parkman, the office ran this year shortstaffed, with one less full-time employee and one less contract employee during the busiest time of year.
Seawood questioned members of the budget committee about the figures that were used to determine the budget and how the appropriations were determined. According to Justice Regan Hill, the elected officials were asked to give an estimate to the amount of revenue their offices would generate for next year.
"We took the figures given to us from the elected officials and the additional money that would be coming in from outside sources and we came up with an anticipated revenue of $5.8 million dollars, which is more than $600,000 less than what we budgeted last year. We took a hit last month when we found out that we would be receiving $40,000 less per month from the state then we did this year. That's a $480,000 hit. When it comes right down to it, we're going to have to deal with how much money is in the bank. That's just how much money is coming in and how much we can spend," said Hill.
Seawood questioned budget committee members and St. Francis County Treasurer Ann Harbin about actual figures on paper showing the general account situation.
"Show me some facts and I'll shut up. I want to see what we took in. I don't want any guessing games," said Seawood.
Harbin presented Seawood with the figures which prompted him to ask about the letter from the state informing the county of the $40,000 drop in funding for next year.
"If the quorum court knew about these things then we wouldn't have these problems. We don't have any information, not just the budget committee. If we knew these things then 'old loud mouth' wouldn't have to argue," Seawood said.
Hill questioned Seawood as to whether he had approached Harbin about information and been denied access. Seawood did not respond.
Budget committee chairperson O.J. Gandy attempted to create a committee to help balance the sheriff's budget but only two justices, Wilkinson and Donald Cagle offered to serve on the committee. More budget talks are planned for later this month.
An Arkansas State Police Trooper remains in critical condition today at a Memphis hospital where he has been hospitalized since an accident Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 40.
Steven Shane Bewley, 32, of Brinkley, an officer with Troop D in Forrest City, was hurt when his state police car rearended an 18-wheeler on Interstate 40 near Palestine.
"He's holding his own," a state police spokesperson said this morning. "He has undergone surgery on his arm, but not on his leg yet."
Bewley was airlifted from the accident scene to the Elvis Presley Trauma Center in Memphis where he remains.
The Times-Herald begins its 131st year of continuous publication today.
The oldest established business in St. Francis County, the Times-Herald strives to be a leader in the community.
Owned by the McCollum family for 58 years, the Times-Herald is printed Monday through Friday at its plant located on Izard Street in downtown Forrest City.
The newspaper was among the first in Arkansas this year to begin printing on a smaller newsprint size by converting its press to accommodate a more narrow web width. In January, the Times-Herald converted from a 28-inch web width to a 25-inch web width.
Since that time, an estimated 95 percent of the daily newspapers in Arkansas have followed in the Times-Herald's footsteps by printing on a narrower web.
"This move was necessitated by the rising costs of newsprint. It is important for us to continue providing our readers with a quality product, and the only way for us to do that is to reduce our costs, as have other newspapers in Arkansas and throughout the United States," said Publisher Weston Lewey.
The actual newspaper size change may not have been as noticeable to readers as have the actual format and layout changes that accompanied the press modifications.
"Some of these changes have helped us in the way we present the most up-to-date information we have available to our readers. Our goal is to give our readers the news they want in a way that is easy for them to digest," said Managing Editor Tamara Johnson.
This year the Times-Herald also has become 100 percent paginated, meaning each page is produced on a computer. "We are constantly upgrading our computers and software so that we remain a leader in the newspaper industry," Johnson added.
"It is important for us to continue providing our readers with the type of newspaper they have come to appreciate over the past 130 years," said Johnson. "We are a community newspaper, but in today's times and in regard to the matters occurring at the national level, we strive to create a balance between local and national news."
The overwhelming majority of October's $228,750 in building permits issued in Forrest City were for residential projects.
Sterling Liquor Store at 1013 W. Broadway received a permit for a sign valued at $250. The rest of the permits were residential.
The residential projects included three new houses, one addition, one sun porch, three remodelings, one roof, one siding project, one burnout, two fences and a storage building.
The October permits brought the city's total for the calendar year to $3,800,764.
Bibles, new -- or used as long as they are in good condition -- are needed by the Rescue the Perishing With Love and Care project for youth, according to Catherine Freeman.
The Bibles will be given to the children to take home.
Freeman also asked that the parents become more involved with their children.
Anyone wishing to donate a Bible can bring it by the St. Francis County Food Pantry, or call Freeman at 633-6255, and she will send someone to pick it up.