The Pulaski County Council is considering allowing county officials to spend another $668,000 in Economic Development Income Tax revenues, beyond what was budgeted. Council members recently voted to advertise a number of additional appropriation requests for a final vote next Monday.
Most of that would be for preliminary costs for the courthouse renovation and justice center expansion project that the county’s already committed to spending but weren’t in the 2020 budget. That includes permission to spend $480,000 for estimated architect’s fees, $79,000 for bond counsel, $85,000 for accounting firm Baker Tilly to help with the bond process as well as the county’s income tax restructuring, and just over $9,400 to replenish the CDC’s budget from some of the bills already paid. Much of that could later be reimbursed with bond revenues.
Also included in the additional appropriation request is $15,000 to pay for a financial impact analysis for the proposed Mammoth Solar project. Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer said that money would only be spent if the project is approved, and the developers would be asked to reimburse the county as part of an economic development agreement.
However, council members voted down a request to fund a workforce efficiency study from Baker Tilly. Council President Ken Boswell felt it would help council members deal with salary requests. “How many people over the course of time have come in here saying that we need to change pay rates, they can’t hire, they can’t retain employees? And this gives us real numbers,” Boswell noted.
County Attorney Kevin Tankersley added that the study could quickly pay for itself, if it helps the county identify where to make cuts with the least amount of impact. However, some council members felt that the cost – ranging from about $35,000 to almost $47,000, depending on options – was a lot of money considering the county’s current financial situation. Others pointed out that the salary information itself from any county is already publicly available.
