The Carroll County Quorum Court voted unanimously at its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, to approve the first reading of a proposed 2025 county budget that includes 4 percent raises for all county employees.
The proposal must be read and approved three times in order to take effect. The quorum court’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 17. In previous years, the quorum court has read the proposed budget ordinance twice at the December meetings.
Altogether, the proposed budget projects total revenues of $18,233,230.49 and total expenditures of $16,655,946.82.
Also at the Nov. 19 meeting, JPs unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance establishing the compensation for county elected officials in 2025. That proposal calls for the county judge’s salary to be set at $67,652.51, with the sheriff’s salary set at $65,936. Salaries for the county clerk, circuit clerk, treasurer, tax collector and assessor would be set at $59,916.74 each, while the county coroner would be paid a salary of $9,570 if the proposal is adopted. Quorum court members would be paid $325 apiece for each regular and special meeting and $100 apiece for each committee meeting, with the chair of the finance committee being paid $300 per meeting.
The November meeting included both favorable and critical comments directed at longtime District 11 Justice of the Peace John Howerton, who lost his re-election bid earlier in the month to challenger Caroline Rogers.
Rogers, a Republican and outspoken opponent of Scout Clean Energy’s Nimbus Project, received 646 votes (60 percent) compared with 429 votes (39.9 percent) for Howerton in the Nov. 5 general election.
Howerton, a Democrat, has said that he doesn’t want to interfere with property owners’ rights to do as they please on the land they own. Scout says it has signed leases with 50 landowners for the Nimbus Project, which will include 30 wind turbines — 26 of which will be 644 feet tall, with the other four slated to stand 591 feet tall.
Green Forest Mayor Don McNeely, who served on the quorum court for several years as District 8 JP, spoke during public comments, expressing his appreciation for Howerton’s work as a JP and saying he was surprised that Howerton lost the election.
“I was really heartbroken and upset,” McNeely said. “… I just want to say I appreciate you, John.”
Later during public comments, Carrollton resident Stephanie Usrey criticized Howerton’s stance on the Nimbus Project.
“I think probably everybody in the room knows why Mr. Howerton lost,” Usrey said. “And I’m proud he lost. … While everybody talks about land rights, I doubt anybody in the room is more conservative than me. I really would challenge anybody in the room to be more conservative than me. But I think everybody’s just talking about the rights of the people that are getting the windmills, wind turbines. And I’d like to say, what about my rights? What about my right to a beautiful view in retirement? What about that? Nobody seems to care about that. Nobody seems to stand up for that. And so I’m glad you lost. I’m sure you’re a nice gentleman, but I’m glad you lost because I’m for her and I’m for what she stands for and for my view and my rights and my grandkids and not the guys who are just in it for the money.”
