About 100 Crittenden County residents packed into the courthouse Tuesday morning for a public hearing regarding a proposed insurance premium tax. Crittenden County Judge-Executive Fred Brown and county magistrates had developed the idea for the four-percent tax last month. Behind a 4-2 vote, they executed the first phase of implementation.
However, after about three hours of testimony from local citizens Tuesday, the fiscal court backed off and tabled the plan until three ad hoc committees can further research various spending and revenue options. The county is facing a $145,000 projected budget shortfall in FY 08-09 which begins July 1.
The large crowd was full of opposition to the proposed tax. Most shared his or her ideas, some with a bit of hostility, but generally citizens were amicable and presented their disdain for a new tax with tact. Some of the comments had a great deal of merit, but others were impractical or down right illegal.
For now, the fiscal court is going to look at cutting more from its budget, but the tax proposal will surface again. The next meeting is scheduled for March 18, but I look for a special meeting to be convened prior to that date. Since the measure was officially tabled with a unanimous vote Tuesday, it will require some procedural correctness to get it back into consideration at the next meeting, or the whole plan will die. Of course the tax idea could be re-issued in the form of a new motion, but that would force another public hearing and would create a timetable problem for implementing the tax for this upcoming budget cycle.
For more on this matter, see this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press. There will also be more in depth coverage appearing online Wednesday afternoon.
