BENTON COUNTY — Benton County officials are no closer to resolving how to provide ambulance service to county residents after a 90-minute exchange of ideas and insults.

Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin was accused of “grandstanding” by Justice of the Peace Tom Allen while McCaslin was addressing the Quorum Court’s Public Safety Committee on having the county pay the city for ambulance service to some unincorporated areas of the county. McCaslin responded by dismissing the county’s past and current budget for emergency medical services as “no more than a dust bunny under the bed.”

Allen and McCaslin clashed over the relative costs of ambulance service and the contributions of residents to city services. Allen insisted county residents who shop in Bentonville benefit the city, an argument McCaslin disputed.

“A practical fact of the matter is a substantial number of Benton County residents shop in Bentonville and you are enjoying the benefits of their sales taxes,” Allen said.

McCaslin told Allen he was making a false argument and “that’s not the way the law works and that’s not the way the world works.”

“That’s an interesting perspective,” McCaslin said. “But I refuse to give it any validity at all."

“That’s your perspective,” Allen said, pointing also to the county appropriating $100,000 in 2011 and $150,000 in 2012 for payment to emergency medical service providers, including Bentonville. “I believe my perspective has weight as well. We are paying something, are we not?”

“You’re paying nothing,” McCaslin said. “That’s no more than a dust bunny under the bed as far as this issue.”

McCaslin sent a proposed contract to County Judge Bob Clinard, who passed it on to justices of the peace. McCaslin’s Jan. 9 cover letter asks the county to sign and return the contract within 30 days. He said Thursday he is willing to wait for the county to work through the process of deliberating and deciding on a course of action, but the city’s costs and need for reimbursement won’t change.

The contract McCaslin proposed stipulates the county will pay Bentonville $400 for each ambulance call that results in transport by Bentonville for non-Bentonville residents. The county will not face fees for any Bentonville resident who requires transport while in the county areas. Similar contracts have been sent to Centerton, Cave Springs, Highfill and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. McCaslin said the airport board has agreed to the contract and the cities are waiting on action by their city councils.

Marshal Watson, the county’s public safety administrator, said he estimated the cost of Bentonville ambulance calls to unincorporated areas of the county for 2012 at about $120,000 at the $400per call rate. If the county agreed to pay $400 per call to all of the other ambulance providers, the county’s cost would be about $1 million, Watson said.

Several justices of the peace questioned how the city decided the cost of service to the county and asked whether the city would lay off any employees or close fire stations if that service ends. Bentonville Fire Chief Dan White said the department wasn’t structured in that way so the level of service will remain as it is, but be directed toward protecting the city. Allen said he couldn’t determine if the city’s numbers were “true costs” of providing service to the county.

Justice of the Peace Patrick Carr called the contract “an ultimatum out of left field,” and asked McCaslin what Bentonville will do if the county rejects the city’s calculations and declines to pay the amount requested.

“We’ve given you audited financial numbers, not anything we’ve made up,” McCaslin said. “This is what we spent, this is our cost. If you want to price our business, perhaps you need to go into the business yourself.”

The committee took no action Thursday. Frank Winscott, the committee chairman, said the county is “in a holding pattern” while its study of emergency medical services is being done. Watson told the committee the report is expected in early April. Winscott said he hopes the county can get some kind of interim report on the progress of the study sometime next month.

News, Pages 16 on 02/15/2012