Email: rking@pbcommercial.com
The Jefferson County Quorum Court on Monday will consider an ordinance to change the 2017 Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association (MECA) budget in order to give dispatchers a raise when they meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday. During a meeting of the MECA board Tuesday, Karen Blevins, coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management, who also oversees MECA, proposed eliminating two positions and moving other funds around to give a $2,000 raise to most dispatchers.
She said the move was necessary because it was becoming harder to keep trained dispatches since communications agencies in other parts of the state, including Little Rock, pay considerably more money. Also on the agenda Monday is a resolution to reduce the number of members of the Jefferson County Equalization Board from nine to five.
County Assessor Yvonne Humphrey said in a memo to County Judge Henry “Hank” Wilkins IV that the board has lost three members in a year and has been unable to fill those positions. A proposed ordinance that would provide $25,000 to cover the costs of the June special election in Pine Bluff where the Go Forward Pine Bluff plan will be considered.
Another proposed ordinance would set up a petty cash fund for the county Board of Election Commissioners in the amount of $200 with the money to be used for small and/or emergency items needed for operation.
Other items on the agenda Monday include:
- A $42,862.50 appropriation for the Assessor’s Office to cover reimbursement costs for the office’s pictometry program.
- A $5,920.65 appropriation for the Assessor’s Office to cover the payment on a copier and data backup and storage.