W hen does one pay off a million dollar debt?
That was the question facing the Pine Bluff City Council last week. The city had contended in court that it shouldn’t have to pay what Jefferson County was demanding for the city’s housing of prisoners in its jail. The city lost the case in 2023 but appealed — and then lost again.
After the legal side of the case was settled, what was left was a tab for almost $1 million. And in the end, the council voted to take money out of the city’s reserves and satisfy the bill.
The argument was over just how to do that, as in whether to pay the amount out over time or just write a check for the whole thing. Council Member William Fells made a reasoned case that the city should preserve the money it has put back for emergencies and only use it if necessary.
“The emergency reserve fund … should be reserved for critical emergencies,” he said, “for example, if we couldn’t make payroll or there was a natural disaster.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
This case was instigated during Shirley Washington’s term as mayor, and a prudent move then would have been to put back money in case the city lost its lawsuit. And when the city did lose the lawsuit, there should have been more emphasis on saving for what is now a rainy day. By doing nothing, the can has been kicked from the Washington administration to the Vivian Flowers administration.
Flowers pushed the proposal for the city to get past the problem once and for all, saying that the city has much more money in its reserve account than it is required to have.
“We were engaged in litigation,” she said. “We owe the money.”
Yes, let’s not forget that the county provided a service and, according to the court, has not been paid sufficiently by the city. There is an injured party here that needs to be made whole, as lawyers like to say.
Council Member Bruce Lockett agreed.
“I really want to clear this up so we have a clean slate with the sheriff and be able to collaborate like we should,” he said.
And Council Member Glen Brown Jr. suggested that once the bill is paid, that’s when the city should work to replace that money in the reserve fund.
Now that debt part has been settled, there’s no reason the city can’t shop around for alternatives to putting its prisoners in the county jail to save money. A little competition might change the whole complexion of this story.