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Another savings proposal on table |
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Friday, 20 March 2009 |
Benton City Council plans to take another step in its efforts to jump-start the building trade in the community.
Benton Public Utility Commission voted earlier this week to recommend that the city’s sewer connection fees be reduced by 30 percent. The proposal will be voted on Monday night by the City Council.
City Attorney Brent Houston said he plans today to draft the proposed ordinance.
The proposal is in keeping with Ben-ton city officials’ current motivation to stimulate the economy during the present difficult economic times, Alderman Brad Moore said.
Recently, the council voted to place a six-month moratorium on building permit fees. The moratorium applies to both residential and commercial development in the city.
Houston said the ordinance regarding the sewer connection fees will be on the council agenda Monday night, he said.
Alderman Jerry Ponder, who serves as the council’s liaison to the PUC, notified other council members by e-mail of the PUC recommendation, Moore said.
Moore said the PUC members “worked their numbers and figured out a way to help the builders to stimulate that part of economy.”
With the 30 percent reduction in sewer connection fees, this would translate to “$300 on an average 2.000-square-foot home,” he said.
Combining this reduced cost with the recent elimination of the $500 building permit, “the savings would be about $800,” he noted. “This should be helpful to build-ers.”
According to Moore, “out of the Central Arkansas market, Benton will be the lowest in cost, permit-wise. except for the city of Cabot.”
This grouping includes Little Rock, Bryant, Hot Springs and North Little Rock, he said.
At the time the aldermen voted to discontinue the building permit fees, they noted that the action was intended to spur new building and remodeling projects in Benton, thus increasing sales tax collections through the sale of materials for the construction.
The building trade has been the city’s number-one source of revenue during the past 10 years, Alderman Doug Stracener noted in an earlier meeting.
Stracener acknowledged then that the decision to eliminate any fees is a difficult one because “in a tight budget it’s hard to take away potential revenue.”
“I told them (other council members) that building could go to zero if we don’t do something,” he said. “But if we spur this, then our sales tax collection outweighs anything we’re giving up on permits. Everything delivered to the site goes into the Benton sales tax.
“We hope this is the key to our start of the key to our recovery,” Stracener said.
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