Agenda Highlights 4/29/25

The Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting scheduled for 4-29-25 will begin with a special meeting regarding discipline or termination of Chief Human Resources Officer Lolley in response to the recent issue of an employment offer being extended to Rebecca Cowan for the position of Internal Audit Director and then it coming to the attention of the Board and the public that Cowan is involved in criminal legal issues resulting in the Board terminating Cowan’s hiring. The discussion of the matter will be held in Executive Session, but if an official vote action is taken, that will be conducted afterward in the public session. The City Administrator (not the Board) has sole power and responsibility over disciplining and hiring and firing all non-uniformed City employees including staff (except for the City Administrator and Internal Audit Director for whom those duties are under the power of the Board).

Immediately following the special meeting, the regularly scheduled study session will begin in which the Board will continue its series of reviews of the all of the departments’ 2025 budgets. The Board and Administration have set the goal of departments with one program finding 5% of their budget that can be cut and departments with multiple programs finding 10% of their budget that can be cut. First up for discussion 4-29-25 will be the Parks Department budget. Their proposed cuts total $418,040 for a total of 10.2% of their budget. Cuts would include…

• delaying filling a vacant Maintenance Supervisor position until 10-1-25 and at that time reclassifying it as Foreperson to allow for it to be a lower-paid supervisor position that also performs labor in the field

• a decrease in fees for outside services for studies related to the planning for the former Acme Brick property as a result of the master planning process extending beyond the 2025 budget year

• eliminating retrofitting of lights to convert to LED for the Creekmore walking paths as that project will eventually be completed by OG&E at their expense

• shifting retrofitting of lights to convert to LED for the Creekmore tennis courts to be incorporated in the tennis court improvement Capital Improvement Plan project

• eliminating projects retrofitting lights to convert to LED for the Oak Cemetery sexton’s building, Elm Grove Community Center, and Garrison Avenue streetscape lights and instead replacing those gradually as the existing lights burn out

• a reduction in cost budgeted for playground mulch as older playgrounds are replaced with artificial turn and other surfacing

• minimizing repairs to an Oak Cemetery pickup truck that it is no longer cost-efficient to maintain

• not purchasing security cameras at Creekmore Community Center (where the existing ones have been inoperational for 10 years with no issues) and the Riverfront Glass Pavilion (where the cameras at the Blue Lion building can also serve that area)

• reduction in spending for salaries at Creekmore pool through staffing adjustments based on the operating schedule and logistics

• not purchasing replacements for inoperational spray noodles at Compass Park splash pad

• not purchasing a new point of sale system for Creekmore pool

• shifting the budget for Cisterna Park pump house and fountain repair projects to the 1/8 sales tax for capital projects for Parks program

The Board will discuss proposed cuts to the Policy & Administration, Management Services, and Development Services departments. Their proposed cuts total $1,820,257.48 for a total of 6.2% of their budget. Cuts would include…

• Cuts totalling $241,034 from the Mayor’s budget for a total cut of 39.2% of the Mayor’s budget with the highest dollar cut coming from a 76.2% cut to the special events budget and the second highest dollar cut coming from a 50% cut to the advertising and promotion budget

• Cuts totalling $75,000 from the Board of Directors budget for a total cut of 15.2% of their budget with the highest dollar cut coming from building maintenance

• Cuts totalling $192,675 from the City Administration budget for a total cut of 11.8% from their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from salaries

• Cuts totalling $12,000 from the District Court budget for a total cut of .6% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from air travel and education reimbursement.

• Cuts totalling $3,500 from the City Prosecutor budget for a total cut of 1.3% of their budget.

• Cuts totalling $15,500 from the District RISE Court budget for a total cut of 43.4% of their budget

• Cuts totalling $42,000 from the City Attorney budget for a total cut of 10.2% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from dues and subscriptions.

• Cuts totalling $17,000 from the DWI Court budget for a total cut of 23.4% of their budget

• Cuts totalling $63,883 from the Internal Audit budget for a total cut of 10.5% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from salaries and benefits related to the vacant department head position and conferences and travel.

• Cuts totalling $34,100 from the Human Resources budget for a total cut of 3.9% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from building maintenance and employee recognition

• Cuts totalling $21,000 from the City Clerk for a total cut of 5% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from advertising and promotion

• Cuts totalling $152,578 from Finance for a total cut of 8.1% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from salaries and benefits and travel and conferences

• Cuts totalling $29,220 from Purchasing for a total cut of 9.4% of their budget

• Cuts totalling $450,012 from IT for a total cut of 4.9% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from salaries and software licensing fees

• Cuts totalling $22,388 from Communications for at total cut of 5.2% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from advertising and promotions

• Cuts totalling $11,400 from Community Mobility for a total cut of 6% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from architectural/engineering services and conferences and travel

• Cuts totalling $40,750 from City Services for at total cut of 16% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from outside services and travel and conferences

• Cuts totalling $77,800 from Citizen Services for a total cut of 2.1% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from advertising and promotion, postage and freight, and fuel

• Cuts totalling $102,417 from Engineering for a total cut of 5.5% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from salaries and benefits

• Cuts totalling $89,000 from Planning and Zoning for at total cut of 8.2% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from salaries

• Cuts totalling $59,500 from Building Safety for a total cut of 4.2% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from outside services for plan/file scanning

The Parking Garage that is funded 100% out of the Parking Fund (so its budget has no impact on the general fund or water/sewer funds) proposes $20,000 in cuts for a total cut of 9% of their budget with the cuts being made from small equipment purchases.

Neighborhood Services that is funded 100% out of the Clean Up/Demolition fund (so its budget has no impact on the general fund or water/sewer funds) proposes cuts totalling $47,500 for a total cut of 3.8% of their budget with the highest dollar cuts coming from outside services.

The Board will hear 6 different proposed options for the Police Department budget.

• Option A, the option requested by the Police Department, is to not make any further cuts to the Police budget, but rather to leave the budget at a total of $25,251,782.74. The Police Department mentioned that $1.4 million have already been cut from the initially requested 2025 budget and mentioned the impact of inflation as a challenge to the department’s budget. The Police Department says that Option A, leaving the budget as is, would result in “little to no impact” on service.

• Option B, a 10% hold on spending enacted at the discretion of the department, would result in a total cut of $2,416,692. The Police Department says that Option B would have “moderate impact” on personnel and “minimal impact” on service

• Option C, specific line item cuts including cuts to overtime for special events, facility repairs, recruiting, leadership training and professional development, reductions in fuel, and cuts to animal control, would result in a total cut of $367,710. The Police Department says that Option C would result in “moderate impact” on service.

• Option D, specific line item cuts including cuts to all conferences/seminars/training that is not already booked, would result in a total cut of $292,640. The Police Department says that Option D would result in “severe impact” on training and education.

• Option E, all of the specific line item cuts included in both Option C and Option D, would result in a total cut of $660,350. The Police Department says that Option E would result in “moderate/severe impact” on all functions.

• Option F, called the “Nuclear Option”, including all of the line item cuts from Option E plus the 10% spending hold from Option B, would result in a total cut of $3,077,042. The Police Department says that with that option “important equipment” would not be repaired or replaced and needed training would not occur and morale and retention, hiring, and recruiting would be “negatively impacted”.