An ordinance to approve an interlocal agreement between the City of Jonesboro and Craighead County passed its third and final reading at Tuesday's Jonesboro City Council meeting after council debate.
The interlocal agreement, according to the ordinance, is for continuing the shared expenses of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library and other purposes. According to AR Code § 13-2-407 (2020) joint municipal libraries can enter interlocal agreements that contain terms, agreements, and conditions.
According to City Attorney Carol Duncan, the current agreement to fund the library was established in the 1940s and is now in need of renewal to comply with Arkansas law.
“Back then, there was no rule on how long an interlocal agreement could last, so we trucked along until the 70s, and all that was passed was a resolution or ordinance, and all it said was we want to keep doing what we were doing back in 1948,” she said.
Duncan said there seems to be some confusion regarding an agreement that may have taken place after a certain point in time. However, the city, county, and library have no record of such an agreement.
According to Duncan, the new agreement would be in place for the next five years and would be reaffirmed every five years to keep the “status quo” and avoid concerns about the collector’s office and paying out the millage.
Library Board Debate
The debate stirred over the makeup of the library board. The board's makeup is 7 members: 3 appointed by the city and 4 appointed by the county. Discussion over the makeup of the board had been brought up with the idea of giving more seats to the City of Jonesboro.
Craighead County Quorum Court member Garret Barnes spoke in opposition to the passing of the resolution in its current form in previous readings in hopes of getting the City Council to reconsider the board makeup. He said he was concerned if passed in the current form that it would become a legal standstill because he was unsure if the Quorum Court would give up the seats.
“This is not a political thing,” Barnes said. “I want to emphasize this is a section that is needed in this agreement. This is legally binding and it's missing a fundamental crucial piece of it.”
Barnes had argued the makeup of the board reflects unfairly on the city. According to Barnes the library board is not equitably represented with more seats going to the county instead of the city when the city contributes more to the library’s budget.
Barnes said the city should have 5 appointees and the county should have 2. Some of his points were that Jonesboro's population makes up 70.6% of the county. Barnes also referenced the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, Northeast Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, and the Solid Waste Management Board which the city has more appointees than the county.
Mayor Harold Copenhaver said that he spoke with Duncan, the County Attorney, and County Judge Marvin Day to discuss the options with the agreement.
“We’ve discussed some options available, but we are here tonight to see what all you want to do. We have several options, we can vote on it this evening or make a motion to amend that for a later date,” Copenhaver said.
Duncan said there were several things in the agreement that needed to be in there, like the makeup of the board. She also mentioned the possibility of mayors in towns with branch libraries having a say regarding the board.
Duncan also went on to say there was disagreement between her and the County Attorney.
“I will say I think me, and the county attorney disagree a little bit on what the law says about who appoints the board but that’s one of those things we need to hammer out,” Duncan said. “We decided it was pretty complicated and it was going to take a while to get all those people to the table.”
The ordinance deadline had passed a “long time ago” according to Duncan. There was a law passed saying interlocal agreements had to be passed every 5 years which has not been done.
Councilwoman Janice Porter made several points as to why she believes that the current split on the board is not unfair to the citizens of Jonesboro.
“I believe that this controversy is motivated by a desire to punish the County Judge for appointing directors who are willing to make reasonable accommodations to help parents protect the innocence of their children,” Porter said.
She also said she believes it is to punish rural voters for voting in a way that displeases those who are “spearheading” the effort.
This comes about two years after a vote was made in November 2022 to cut the county’s property tax from 2 mills to 1 mill on real and personal property supporting the library’s operation after months-long debates and controversy about materials in the library.
“A majority of the people in the county live here in the city, a majority of the property tax that funds the library comes from here in the city. With the majority of the people living in the city and funding it, I believe we should have the majority seats.” Councilman Chris Moore said.
Moore also added he just wanted things clarified and he wanted the agreement laid out.
Ultimately, he said he didn't care about the number of seats but instead wanting the duties and the responsibilities outlined which he said he'd bring up with other interlocal agreements.
Councilman David McClain suggested the council wait to “do it right the first time.”
“I would rather us wait and get everything lined out,” McClain said.
Councilman Dr. Anthony Coleman also agreed with McClain and Moore and wanted to hold off on passing until a final agreement is written up.
Councilman Chris Gibson proposed to add the amendment to put a deadline of May 2025 for the council and the county to come back together to work on the agreement further. Gibson said the timeline was that far out because he felt like the agreement would take a lot of work.
“I feel like both parties are going to work on this, but I don't think this is going to be a quick fix,” Gibson said.
Moore said he feels like they will simply be back there in 5 years because nothing requires the county to propose anything the council agrees to. Moore emphasized he wanted to approve the agreement on the front end.
“If the county decides ‘well we're not going to come back’, then what,” McClain said.
The amendment and interlocal agreement carried 7-4. Moore, McClain, Coleman, and Councilman LJ Bryant voted no.
