The Baxter County Quorum Court has raised the county’s minimum expense threshold to inventory items.
Previously, any item purchased by the county costing $1,000 or more required that item be catalogued and maintained in inventory. Now, only items costing $5,000 or more must be tracked through the county’s inventory process.
State law requires that counties set a minimum price point to track purchased items and equipment, but does not set a specific dollar amount, County Judge Mickey Pendergrass said. The $1,000-threshold is believed to have been established by the Quorum Court back in 2002.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery told Quorum Court members that two decades’ worth of inflation meant many routine items like computers and lightbars for patrol vehicles now exceed the $1,000 cost point and must be tracked through the inventory.