AAC
F a m i ly F r i e n d s
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Collectors ‘collect’ at Arlington in Hot Springs
Arkansas County Collectors Association members attended a continuing education workshop at The Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs on Dec. 1-2. The workshop was hosted by the ARcounties Continuing Education (ACE) program. ACE is the educational arm of the AAC and serves five of the AAC’s member organizations.
A
rkansas County Collectors Association members came to Hot Springs for a continuing education workshop and learned about everything from the growth in oil and gas production in the state of Arkansas to the latest in counterfeiting detection and trends from the United States Secret Service. Paige Beavers Miller of Southwestern Energy/AIRPRO seemed to surprise many collectors and county employees when she said Arkansas ranks as the seventh leading natural gas producing state in the nation and also ranks 17th among oil producing states across the country. Beavers Miller went on to explain the vastness of the property tax revenue generated by such a thriving energy-based industry in the state. She also said this industry and its continued success and growth will be a major factor in the state’s overall economic atmosphere and a factor in decreasing the United States’ dependency on foreign energy. “Is the U.S. too reliant on foreign oil?” she asked as she flipped to the next slide in her presentation. “In 2011, we imported an estimated 351 barrels at a value of $37 billion. We could cut our oil imports by half by converting
Sue Liles (front), White County Collector, and Cindy Walker, Columbia County Collector, look up information in a handout distributed by Paige Beavers Miller of Southwestern Energy/AIRPRO. Miller told the county collectors in attendance that natural gas was first discovered in Arkansas in 1989 and oil was discovered in Union County in 1921.
Jeff Sikes, AAC legislative director, thanks the county collectors for all they do for their respective counties at The Arlington while Rita Chandler, Arkansas County Tax Collectors Association president, looks on.
Norma Packett, Randolph County Collector, accepts the “big” door prize, a framed “Arkansas Traveler” print, from Ralph Burns of the Secretary of State’s office. 34
Olivia Barenburg, Pope County chief deputy collector, signs her name with the opposite hand than she regularly would as part of a customer service exercise presented by Gail Steele with Bank of the Ozarks.
COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2012
