BENTON COUNTY -- Benton County's plan to pay for rural ambulance service failed in an election on Feb. 11.
With all 15 precincts counted, 1,134 votes, or 33 percent, were for it with 2,346 votes, or 67 percent, against it.
The vote total is tentative until certified by the county Election Commission.
Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4 and chairman of the Quorum Court's Finance Committee, said he plans to call a meeting as soon as possible to weigh options.
"It's disappointing, but not surprising," Allen said. "We need to sit down with our partners and see if they'll work with us while we look for a solution."
Theresa Pockrus, who helped organize the petition drive that forced Tuesday's election, said she will be working on alternatives to present to county officials.
"I will present the information to them when it's appropriate," she said.
Kurt Moore, justice of the peace for District 13, said he doesn't know how the county will choose to proceed.
"It's back to square one," Moore said.
Moore said the only alternative he heard Pockrus suggest during the debate involves the cities reducing their request, with the county providing about one-third of the cost, the cities one-third and the rural residents the remaining one-third, which he said seems unlikely.
"I think that's a non-starter," he said.
The Quorum Court in September created an emergency medical services district with an $85 annual fee to pay the county's cost to make ambulance service available. The county estimated the $85 fee would generate $1.2 million annually.
The county originally budgeted $950,000 for 2014 to pay the cities that provide rural ambulance service.
The justices of the peace hosted a series of forums where residents raised a number of questions and voiced criticisms of the proposal. People questioned the cost of ambulance service, how the cities arrived at their costs, the proposed funding mechanism and whether county residents paying city sales tax should be factored into the question of compensation to the cities.
ELECTION COMMISSION
The Benton County Election Commission was to meet at 2 p.m., Feb. 18, to review any provisional ballots cast during last Tuesday's special election on rural ambulance service. The commission will meet to certify the results of the election at 2 p.m. on Feb. 21.
General News on 02/19/2014