Eureka Springs City Council held its annual budget meeting on Dec. 9, and Finance Director Michael Akins presented several budgets, saying there were no huge changes, he had tried to keep it conservative, and the legislative audit had suggestions he had considered.
Akins said that most individual departments are assuming a five percent pay increase for every city worker with a three percent cost of living increase and a two percent merit raise. Department heads will decide how much of the two percent merit raise each employee will receive based on their work. There have been increases to insurance and workman’s comp.
Police Chief Billy Floyd said that fuel for police cars was budgeted at $38,000, and $40,000 for maintenance. Cameras have been installed – both dash cams and body cams, which has added to the department’s IT budget, and a bicycle officer for tickets and patrolling downtown has been added.
Capital expenditures for ESPD is $107,000 for two new outfitted Dodge Durangos. ESPD is receiving a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area grant that connects it to the federal government so that they don’t have to stay in city limits and can pay officers overtime. ESPD currently has 13 officers, including detectives, and next week will have a new certified officer stationed downtown.
Akins said they were adding to the fire department’s budget a line for protective equipment. Volunteer firemen are being reimbursed up to $30,000 per year for their gas and time, and all volunteers are required to attend one meeting a month, one training a month, and have 196 hours of training per year.
Fire and ambulance have 115 – 120 calls per month, 1750 calls per year, on average. The department will be adding an office manager position to the payroll. Capital expenditures to this department include new heart monitors, thermal drones, hoses, and anything else that needs updating. They would also like to construct a facility from shipping containers that would allow for training with fog or smoke machines.
The Transit Dept. budget was then discussed with Ken “Smitty” Smith, and capital expenditures include $90,000 for a new tram and $255,000 for two new trolleys, one paid for by the city, the other with an 80 percent reimbursement, so the city will only pay 20 percent.
If on-demand pickup service goes well, a designated vehicle is on the wish list. Ridership tracking shows who is using it, and so far, most users are tourists, being picked up from the Passion Play and dropped off at their hotels, or being taken from their hotels to downtown and back. Transit is hoping that more locals will take advantage of the service, which is only within city limits unless arrangements are made 24 hours in advance.
Public Works Director Simon Wiley asked for $80,000 to replace the boardwalk on French St. and repair the sidewalk, and $100,000 for a mini-excavator and a trailer. The Water Rate Study has been pushed back, partly to assess the aging infrastructure, and also for time to digitize Wiley’s records.
The building inspector now has two employees, Planning had some changes to health insurance cost, and the cemetery commission had some wage adjustments. The city earned between $135,000 and $145,000 from coin and the parking app, and insurance for the Aud has gone from $17,000 to 19,000. Someone has been drawing graffiti around town – at Pendergrass Corner, at the Aud, and at the gazebo by Basin Park. Mayor Butch Berry said he intends to put up a $250 reward of his own money for information leading to the capture of the tagger.
The city has $13.4 million in revenue and $13 million in expenditures. For 2025 they are proposing a $12.8 million budget with a $12.6 million in expenditures. Examining the monthly budgets for October and November of 2024, sales tax was $296,210, about $17,000 more than last year, and November was $313,000 this year compared to $311,000 in 2023. The overall revenue and expenditures for 2024 year to date as of October showed a loss of $1,137,000, but Akins noted that if you take into account the “injections” into water and more, there was a gain rather than a loss.