Economic news is grim nationwide, but Saline County seems to be following the statewide trend by being somewhat insulated from the economic woes.
“It depends on the sector you’re in,” state Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, said. “The retail and automobile industries seem to be doing OK, but those in the homebuilding sector are really having a tough time right now.”
From an economic development perspective, Broadway said, “We’re still seeing interested companies.”
Broadway, co-chairman of the Saline County Economic Development Corp., said that while companies’ timelines may have slowed, “a lot of construction and moving in will come out of the recession.”
“We’re pretty hopeful,” he said. “We have the tools in place with our marketing strategy and we’re seeing a good size of activity.”
Statewide, Broadway said, the good news is that companies have announced new jobs in places like Jonesboro and Little Rock. In addition, the activity with the Fayetteville Shale is helping to keep Arkansas’ economy somewhat steady, he said.
When compared to nearby states, Arkansas is doing well. “Surrounding states are having to reduce budgets, even some education budgets,” he said. “We’ll see an increase in education spending. It’s small, but at least it’s an increase rather than cuts.”
One thing that has kept Arkansas and Saline County steady, Broadway said, is the governor’s quick action fund of $50 million. The fund has helped the state compete by recruiting industry and business.
The lawmaker said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the state and county will remain steady economically.
The local hospitality industry is not suffering, according to numbers provided by the Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission.
Jill Jones, A&P executive director, said collections through October are up about $4,000 compared to last year.
In October 2007, “we were at about $631,000 and in 2008, we were at $635,000.”
The increase is not as big as it was from 2006 to 2007. In 2006, the same year the 1.5-cent hamburger tax was implemented, the collections were at $498,000.
“This year we’re up a little, which shows that we’re not losing,” Jones said. “Our numbers aren’t going down and people are still patronizing Benton hotels and restaurants.”
Chris Villines, county collector, said tax collections are as expected. “We usually get 92 to 94 percent percent in first-year collections,” he said. “Of those that are delinquent, we collect 90 percent the next year. We’re right on target with 93 percent this year.”
Villines said he believes what has kept the collections steady is the increase of online and credit card payments. “We have seen an increase of 10 percent each year with credit cards, but this year we already have an 11.5 increase in credit card transactions.”
“As far as taxes go,” he said, “people are paying. The accouterments may be cut, but people are still on top of the necessities.”
Regarding the real estate market, Saline County is not seeing the downturn other regions are facing.
Tom Baxley, principle broker of Phillips-Moudy-Duke Real Estate, said, “We still have a very good steady flow of business in our area.”
“Like any business, we’d like to see more, but our listing inventory is down to normal. We’re seeing 10 to 20 percent less on the market than we did a year ago and homes at fair market value are still selling within 90 to 150 days.”
Baxley said there isn’t as much new construction as there has been in years past, but there still is a normal amount of existing homes. There are room for more, he said, and once the industry heads into 2009, he expects to see more homes listed.
While values of homes has been decreasing in hard hit areas, Saline County’s values are pretty stable, Baxley said. “Some years homes appreciate more than others,” but Saline County hasn’t seen major depreciation, he said.
Baxley noted there is a lot of confusion about obtaining a mortgage. “People think the companies have tightened so much that they can’t get loans. There are a lot of local banks and mortgage companies available and people can still get loans, like FHA loans and other financing.”
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