JP Coger's Washington County UPdate 9/6/26
Welcome to this week’s Washington County Update!
At last week’s County Services Committee, Washington County Assessor Russell Hill gave a very informative presentation (HERE and HERE) on “Property Tax and Washington County.”
We heard at the Arkansas Association of Counties meeting last month that there is actually a discussion or movement going around to do away with Arkansas real property taxes. Assessor Hill warned that eliminating real-property taxes would leave local governments and public schools throughout Washington County searching for a replacement for approximately $326.7 million in countywide property tax revenue, including the state-funded homestead credit. More than 81% of property-tax revenue supports public schools, with the remainder funding county government, cities, libraries, and other local services.
Hill also warned that replacing property taxes with higher sales taxes or fees would shift the burden away from large commercial and out-of-state property owners and onto Washington County residents. Although property taxes can create genuine hardships, especially when values rise rapidly, any proposal to eliminate them must explain both how essential services would be funded and who would ultimately pay the replacement tax.
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👀 Looking Ahead
Several important Washington County meetings are coming up. All meetings are open to the public. Unless otherwise noted, meetings will be held at the Washington County Courthouse, 280 N. College Avenue, Fayetteville.
Finance and Budget Committee: Tuesday, September 8, at 6:00 p.m.
Washington County Election Commission: Wednesday, September 9, at 9:00 a.m., at the Election Commission Office, 2721 S. Brink Drive, Fayetteville.
Washington County Library System Board: Thursday, September 17, at 4:00 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 2462 S. Brink Drive, Fayetteville.
Regular Quorum Court Meeting: Thursday, September 17, at 6:00 p.m.
Planning Board Meeting: Thursday, September 24, at 5:00 p.m.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY MEETINGS WEEK OF 9/6/26:
The Washington County Quorum Court County Finance and Budget Committee meeting for September will be held Tuesday, September 8, at 6:00 p.m.
The meeting will be live-streamed HERE.
Read the full agenda HERE.
Agenda Highlights:
Item 4: Treasurer’s Report - Bobby Hill
County General ended August with $12.56 million, a decrease of approximately $2.67 million during the month. Through August, expenditures have exceeded revenues by $3.93 million—more than twice the $1.73 million gap reported at the same point in 2025.
The General Reserve Fund remains strong at $14.81 million and was essentially unchanged during August.
One-cent sales-tax revenue is nearly flat. Through August, the county’s share totaled $7.52 million, approximately $15,004—or 0.20%—below the same period in 2025. Because 60% of this revenue supports County General and 40% supports Roads, even a modest slowdown affects both funds.
Item 5: Employee Insurance Report - Charles Angel
The county has spent approximately $7.80 million, or 63.9%, of its $12.20 million Employee Insurance budget. That is slightly below the expected spending pace at this point in the year.
However, the sharp month-to-month changes in claims demonstrate how volatile—and difficult to predict—employee health-insurance costs can be. Transfers into the fund should continue to be monitored as the county prepares its 2027 budget.
Item 6: Comptroller’s Report - Paul Sherman
Across all reported funds, Washington County has a $140.39 million budget. Through August:
$80.04 million, or 57%, has been spent.
Another $8.73 million is encumbered.
Including those commitments, 63.2% of the total budget has been used or committed.
Several major funds and departments include:
County General: $33.94 million spent from a $57.99 million budget. Spending equals 58.5% of the budget, increasing to approximately 65% when encumbrances are included.
Sheriff’s General Fund: $9.46 million spent and approximately $446,000 encumbered from a $15.89 million budget. Approximately 62.3% is spent or committed.
Jail Operations and Maintenance: $16.42 million spent and another $2.44 million encumbered from a combined $29.92 million budget. Approximately 63% is spent or committed.
Item 7: Sheriff’s Budget Report and Item 8: Road Department Budget Report
You can review the complete September 2 draft of the 2027 Washington County budget here.
Go to the “Table of Contents — By Fund Name” tab, find the budget you wish to examine, and follow the corresponding link. In most cases, the department’s justification letter appears on a separate sheet immediately following its budget.
You may also read the 2027 Budget “Talking Point Paper” HERE
Item 10: Ordinance Prohibiting Use of County Funds for Automatic License Plate Readers Here is my interpretation of the ordinance as it is proposed: Sponsored by JP Evelyn Rios Stafford, this ordinance would prohibit Washington County funds from being used for automatic license-plate reader systems, commonly associated with Flock Safety cameras.
If adopted, the county could not spend money to:
Purchase, lease, or install license-plate readers
Operate, maintain, repair, or replace the cameras
Pay licensing or subscription fees
Purchase data storage or information collected by the systems
Pay for access to license-plate reader databases
The proposal is broader than a ban on one company. It would apply to any fixed or mobile camera system that automatically converts license-plate images into searchable data.
The ordinance does contain some limitations. It would not prohibit county officials from receiving license-plate information from another government or law-enforcement agency at no charge.
County employees could also access such information as part of their regular duties because their salaries would not be treated as payment for the data.
Ordinary body cameras, dashboard cameras, security cameras, and traffic cameras would not be affected unless they were being used as part of an automatic license-plate reader system.
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📊 Key Numbers This Week
$326.7 million: Approximate annual property-tax revenue collected countywide for schools and local government services
81%: Share of that property-tax revenue supporting public schools
$3.93 million: Amount by which County General expenditures have exceeded revenues through August
$140.39 million: Total budget across all funds included in the Comptroller’s report
732: Jail’s reported high population on September 4
524: Current detainees who had previously been incarcerated in the jail
96: Federal detainees held in the jail, including 16 held for immigration authorities
INFORMATION ON MEETINGS FROM LAST WEEK:
The Washington County Quorum Court County Services Committee met Monday 8/31/26. Watch the full video HERE.
Read my summary of the meeting, with time stamps and comments, HERE.
The meeting covered jail overcrowding, paid parental leave, county communications, property taxes, and delayed employee payments.
The most troubling number reported was 166 men in the county jail without assigned beds, while the jail was also holding 93 federal detainees. The Sheriff reported that work on the COVID Mitigation Project was nearing completion, although minor corrections and rehabilitation work on Building D remained underway.
The committee advanced an ordinance providing eight weeks of paid parental leave to the full Quorum Court, but did so without a recommendation for passage.
Human Resources warned that employee health-insurance premiums will increase in 2027. The county is considering a graduated premium structure intended to reduce the impact on lower-paid employees.
Assessor Russell Hill cautioned that eliminating property taxes without a carefully developed replacement could shift costs from large, out-of-state property owners to local consumers while weakening existing protections for seniors, farmers, and disabled veterans.
Finally, a representative of the Assessor’s Office questioned why 14 employees had not received state-funded professional-development payments after the Quorum Court approved the payments and the county had received the money. Update: The ordinance has now been filed and the payments should have been in their most recent paychecks.
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📊 Washington County Jail Data Dashboard
⚖️ Detention Center Data. Read the most recent Inmate
Population Analysis HERE.
Read the Detainee Summary HERE.
At approximately 8:00 a.m. on September 4:
724 people were incarcerated.
The day’s reported high count was 73.
The population included 635 men and 89 women.
The average age was 37.
The average current length of incarceration was 185 days.
524 people, or approximately 72%, had previously been incarcerated in the jail.
103 people, or approximately 14%, were identified as foreign-born.
The jail had recorded 7,525 bookings during 2026 through September 4.
Nearly half of the population was classified as pretrial.
State and federal detainees together accounted for approximately 44% of the jail population.
The 96 federal detainees included 80 people held for the U.S. Marshals Service and 16 held for immigration authorities.
These figures reinforce my longstanding support for meaningful pretrial services—which are different from the county’s Community Rebuilding Initiative—and for re-establishing a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee to identify system-wide solutions.
Read the 2020 Criminal Justice Assessment Study HERE. We are currently doing nothing that the study recommended - in fact, we are doing things and financing programs that go against what the experts told us to do in that study.
🔎 Public Data Resources
Detailed reports are available here:
Detainee Charge Report:https://www.washingtoncountyar.gov/government/departments-f-z/sheriff/detention-information/detainee-charge-report
You can check the “Calls for Service” board here.
Here’s a list in alphabetical order to search for people.
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🧾 County Bid Postings (as of 9/6/26):
Bid 2026-19 - Detainee Food, Commissary, Communications Services - Bids are due September 28 at 4:00 p.m. The bid opening is September 29 at 9:00 a.m. in Suite 530 of the courthouse.
Bid 2026-20 - Soft Body Armor - Sheriff’s Office - The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is soliciting bids for thirty-eight (38) NIJ Level IIIA soft armor concealment style vests to be worn while in uniform. Bids are due September 14, 2026 by 4:00 p.m. The bid opening is September 15, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. in Suite 530 of the courthouse.
Bid 2026-21 - AI-Powdered Phone, Chat, and Email Communications Platform - Washington County Assessor’s Office is seeking bids for an AI-assisted constituent service across phone, chat, and email, with live lookup against the agency’s property records system. Bids are due September 21, 2026 by 4:00 p.m. The bid opening is September 22, 2026 at 9:00a.m. in Suite 530.
View all RFQs and bids [here].
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🧑💼 Here are the Washington County Job Openings as of 9/6/26. Click on any link below to start the application process.
View and apply for job openings HERE.
Please share these opportunities with anyone who may be interested. ___________________________________________________________
— Beth Coger
Justice of the Peace, District 9
Washington County Quorum Court
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