County and city officials are meeting again at the end of the month to try and settle the issue of Blytheville delinquent jail fees owed to the county.
The debt of roughly $500,000 has accumulated over several years, and was being settled with $10,000 monthly payments and occasional check swaps until the city was slammed with news of their IRS debt, and all additional funds went into back payroll tax payments.
Now that the sales tax has been passed within the city and provided Mayor James Sanders with what he calls a "bargaining chip" to take with him into meetings with the IRS next week, the city and county are working on solutions to resolve the debt, which is also causing additional financial strain on the struggling county.
Sanders said he and Councilman Monte Hodges are meeting with the district court clerk to see about the amount of funds being collected through fines and forfeitures.
"We want to see how much is coming in and where it is going. If we determine how much we've been receiving and what it's been used for in the past, we can better come up with a solution for repayment. We are also looking at other revenue streams we can use to generate these funds," Sanders said.
County Judge Randy Carney said Sanders and the city have been diligent in addressing the issue.
"The mayor is looking for the money," he said. "And he has the right attitude. He knows they owe it. The money the city recently received for parks and recreation cannot be spent to pay this debt, but he seems to think that it will free up some money in the city's general fund that could be used to pay the jail fee debt. He's also looking for other ways to make it happen. He's giving it an earnest try."
Carney and Sanders said they have another meeting scheduled for the end of the month, and that this is an ongoing issue.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com