Benton City Council adopts 2017 tax rates, hears introduction of ordinance to increase mayor’s compensation

Benton City Councilmen (from left) Charlie Edmonds, Justin Lamb and Stanley “Butch” Holland listen Monday as City Attorney Zach Brien reads the city’s 2017 tax rate ordinance at Benton City Hall.

Benton City Council on Monday unanimously adopted the city’s tax rates on real and personal property for the 2017 calendar year.

The council elected to approve the compensating rate for the year, which while generating projected revenues equal to 2016 collections remained down from last year on real property. According to the ordinance, the city will assess 21.2 cents per $100 of property value on real estate, a decrease from the 21.4 cents levied in 2016.

However, personal property tax rates increased slightly from the previous year. The city will levy a 25.37-cent tax per $100 of assessed property value on tangible property, up from the 24.14 cents levied in 2016.

Motor vehicle tax rates in Benton remained unchanged from the previous year, at 24 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

Tax monies collected funnel into the city’s general fund.

In addition to adopting 2017 tax rates, the council heard the first reading of an amendment to the city’s water and sewer service charge ordinance. The ordinance, adopted in July, initially outlined a set of fees for calls on particular services performed by employees of the city’s water and sewer department. Sanitation Department Harold Helton and department employees have since re-evaluated language in the ordinance, City Attorney Zach Brien said, prompting proposed amendments to that ordinance.

“Harold and his guys found some issues with the wording and just kind of the carrying through on that,” Brien said. “So based on his suggestion – I know he and Beth (Cooper) spent a while talking about things, and what would be most appropriate and how to address some of these types of issues – and I think that they’ve had a meeting with employees about what to do when people get a service call so that they can be referred to a plumber for their own problems instead of us going out and wasting their money on putting our men out to work when there’s no blockage in the main. So, again, just kind of revisiting some of those fees and … being more specific on the types of things the city will do to help facilitate our customers’ needs for water and sewer respectively.”

Proposed amendments to the ordinance, as introduced by Brien in the reading, include a provision that the customer is responsible for the installation of a sewer cleanout on the service line. Further, amendments call for no service charge on calls made during business hours on a blockage or if the blockage is determined to be in the city’s sewer main. The original ordinance required a $50 service charge on calls addressing blockages in the customer’s line during business hours; the ordinance also called for a $100 fee on any call for service after business hours.

Additional proposed changes to the ordinance require city sanititation employees to only access the city’s sewer through a manhole; city employees will not go through a customer’s access line at any point unless necessary to access the city sewer.

The council also heard the introduction of an ordinance that would, if approved, establish a higher compensation rate for the mayor’s position beginning in 2019. The ordinance would set the mayor’s compensation at $30,000 annually, beginning Jan. 1, 2019. That figure does not account for benefits.

The council in July discussed and tentatively approved the pay increase, to include an updated job description that would outline full-time duties. Brien had said previously that the council could not legally dictate the number of hours an elected mayor must spend per week in the position, however he said the ordinance could outline that expected compensation was based on an anticipated full-time job.

Benton City Council meets at 5 p.m. the third Monday of each month at Benton City Hall.