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The Baxter County Quorum Court approved about $1.3 million in appropriations Aug. 4, moving money into the airport, the coroner’s building project, the sheriff’s office, road work and the circuit court.
Every ordinance and resolution on the agenda passed 9-0. County Judge Kevin Litty presided.
The largest single item was $632,973.52 for the Baxter County Airport, appropriated as Ordinance 2026-37. The money comes from two reimbursable state grants, and $447,703.52 of it goes toward an 80-by-60-foot clear span hangar, with $185,270 for a six-bay open T hangar.
Reimbursable grants require the county to spend first and collect later. One justice noted that other counties borrow from banks to cover that gap and said Baxter County is fortunate not to have to.
The airport manager used the discussion to explain what is happening with the hangars. A tenant offered to pay two years of rent in advance, which produced a little over $48,000, and the airport plans to turn that into the cost share for a third 80-by-60 hangar. He said a second tenant has committed to a two-year term as well, and that his engineer expects the building to be finished by the end of the year.
The effect, as one justice put it, is that the county builds another hangar using someone else’s money instead of its own.
The next largest item was $561,926.75 for the coroner’s building fund, passed as Ordinance 2026-38. Of that, $501,926.75 is listed as construction in progress and $60,000 covers engineering and architecture.
Litty told justices the finished building is expected to cost around $1 million, and said he hopes it will draw no more than about $200,000 from the county general fund. The rest, he said, is money already set aside from earlier sources, including the sale of the old health department building.
The court also appropriated $88,632.78 from the circuit court automation fund to buy audiovisual equipment, as Ordinance 2026-39.
Justices asked what was left in that fund. Litty said he had been sent the balance during the meeting and put it at about $290,000, and said the circuit court generally keeps that account in good shape.
Ordinance 2026-35 appropriated $25,876.89 the sheriff’s office collected in June beyond what was budgeted. The bulk of it, $19,561.74, came from two auction proceeds checks, with another $3,427.09 in installment fees and $1,105 in Act 770 fees.
The rest came in small amounts: $151.25 in DWI fines from district court, $115 from animal adoptions, $108.50 from scrap metal, $50 from VIN checks, $50 from an animal claim and a $10 donation. Roughly $1,046 covers inmate medical costs and prescriptions at the jail.
That money was split across four funds. The largest share, $23,097.33, went to the sheriff’s special projects fund, with $1,557.79 to county general, $1,046.77 to the county jail fund and $175 to animal control.
The smallest appropriation was $13,000, passed as Ordinance 2026-36. Road and Bridge sold a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe to Marion County government and asked that the proceeds be appropriated into its 2026 budget for road construction materials.
Three resolutions followed.
Resolution 2026-16 authorizes Litty to apply for a state grant on behalf of the Clarkridge Volunteer Fire Department. The department wants to buy a 4×4 heavy duty diesel flatbed truck and mount a water tank and pump on it.
The application seeks $15,000 through the Arkansas Rural Development Commission. The department has already raised $25,000 in cash and in-kind community donations as its local match. Justice of the Peace Mike McDonald sponsored the resolution.
Resolution 2026-17 confirms Litty’s reappointment of Cindy Blankenship to the Gamaliel Fire Protection District Board of Commissioners. Her three-year term expires in August 2029. Justice of the Peace Rick Steiner sponsored it.
Resolution 2026-18 confirms the appointment of Beth Vanderstek to the Baxter County Library Board for a five-year term expiring in August 2031.
County Treasurer Jenay Mize delivered the treasurer’s report at the top of the meeting. She told justices that sales tax collections are running ahead of projections for both county general and the jail fund, and that the reports are posted on the county website.
“That means our budget’s in good shape,” she said.
