Fort Smith suspends sewer rate increase for Arcoma for 21 days pending new service agreement

The Fort Smith City Board of Directors on June 3 adopted an ordinance to suspend the June 1 sewer rate increase as it applies to the Town of Arcoma for 21 days while city staff and Arcoma negotiate a new wholesale wastewater services agreement.

The suspension passed on a 5–2 roll call and the board also approved an emergency clause by the same margin. The board had directed staff at a May 27 study session to work with Arcoma on a revised agreement.

The suspension matters because Arcoma officials and Fort Smith staff presented sharply different customer-bill calculations during the board discussion. Joshua Johnson, mayor of Arcoma, said his town’s calculation averaged a year’s flow to estimate per-customer impacts. Director Christina Kasaves flagged a much larger number raised earlier in public comments, saying, “our residents can't afford a hundred and $76 a month,” and asked staff to explain the discrepancy. Fort Smith utility staff reported their comparison calculation produced a substantially lower figure — about $95 per month for a 3,000-gallon household based on the city’s rate-comparison method.

Arcoma officials said they used total 2024 flow to average monthly cost; that approach also attempted to incorporate Arcoma’s historic undercollection of wholesale charges. City staff said their comparison looked at the per-unit rate change without trying to recover past underpayments, which explains much of the gap. Lance (utilities staff) said he provided a spreadsheet the city can use to plug in different usage volumes.

During the discussion council members pressed for clarity on components of the $8.75-per-CCF Fort Smith rate, asking staff to separate treatment and conveyance costs from local maintenance that Arcoma performs for its own system. Director Neil Martin said he was open to discounting for Arcoma’s maintenance responsibilities but warned the board should not create an incentive to locate developments outside the city. Director Kevin Settle opposed a discounted rate for Arcoma and urged parity with Fort Smith residents.

Arcoma representatives said the town maintains roughly 617 sewer accounts and is pursuing internal rate adjustments. They also said a developer had offered to pay some past amounts; the board asked staff to include any collection proposals in negotiations. Board and staff discussed a delinquent balance tied to Arcoma’s accounts; staff said that amount is currently about $149,000 and will be part of the June 17 negotiations.

The board set a June 17 target for staff to return with a recommended agreement and the underlying calculations. Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman said staff will present the detailed numbers and options, including whether to credit Arcoma for the portion of system maintenance it performs and whether to phase any repayments.

Votes: The motion to adopt the ordinance suspending the increase passed 5 yes, 2 no (Directors Martin, Rigo, Good, Kemp, and George Gitsavis voted yes; Directors Settle and Christina Kasaves voted no). The emergency clause passed by the same tally.

The board distinguished between discussion, direction and formal action: it directed staff to negotiate and return with a proposal (direction), recorded extensive public and director-level discussion about rate calculations (discussion), and formally adopted the 21-day suspension and emergency clause (formal action).