Nonprofits Cut From Next Year's Budget

In order to help with the funding of police and firefighters' pensions, there was a vote taken at the Ft. Smith Board of Directors' meeting on July 21 to cut out funding for nonprofit agencies.  The dollar amount is $145,800 annually.  There were twenty-six nonprofit agen- cies that received part of that, this year.

The vote was 4-3 to eliminate the funding.  Keith Lau, Mike Lorenz, Tracy Pennartz and Kevin Settle were the members who voted in favor of the elimination.  George Catsavis, Andre Good and Don Hutchings were against it.

Before the vote was taken, the Directors were asked to postpone their decision by Deborah Goad, Executive Director of The Arc for the River Valley.  She said "The support we receive from the City makes a huge difference in what we can do in accomplishing our mission."  The motion made by Catsavis to table the vote for sixty days, failed.

A vote to cut certain General Fund budgets by 3% was postponed by the Board.

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