Baxter County is on solid financial footing with no outstanding debt, rising sales tax revenue, and several new projects underway, County Judge Kevin Litty reported Monday during the State of the City and County Breakfast at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home.
Litty highlighted the county's financial health, noting that sales tax revenue is running over 4 percent ahead of projections and that the county remains debt-free. "The purchases were made outright. We don’t owe anybody," Litty told attendees at the breakfast, which was organized by the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce. "Baxter County’s debt free. We’re one of the few counties in Arkansas that are."
Among the county's initiatives is a new building to house the collector and assessor offices, as well as a voting center to replace the use of church fellowship halls for early voting. Plans for the 14,500-square-foot facility, located on Sixth Street at the former site of First Baptist Church, include 8,200 square feet of office space and a 6,300-square-foot voting center. Litty said the county expects to begin soliciting bids for the project this month. Once the new building is complete, the current annex on the courthouse square will be sold and repurposed for commercial use.
Litty also discussed developments at Baxter County Airport, which he said has experienced unprecedented growth under Director Taylor Carmichael. The county recently completed construction of two hangars, with plans for a third, and has signed a long-term ground lease with a private investor for a 100-by-100-foot hangar project. The airport, which once had a 53-person waiting list for hangars, continues to attract interest from private developers and aviation enthusiasts. "Our goal is to make the airport fund itself," Litty said, adding that the improvements position the county to attract businesses seeking general aviation access.
In addition to the airport, the county completed approximately 10 miles of road repairs and overlays in 2026, at a cost of $1 million to $1.5 million, funded in part by state and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission grants. Major road projects for the coming year include work on Cranfield Road, which leads to the Corps of Engineers’ Norfork Lake park. Litty acknowledged criticism for recent equipment purchases, which he said were necessary to modernize the county’s aging Road and Bridge Department fleet. "Before I leave here, they will have the best equipment in this part of the country, I’ll assure you," he said.
Litty expressed gratitude to the Quorum Court, other elected officials, and county residents, emphasizing that building a strong county requires collaborative effort. He also weighed in on Issue 3, an economic development amendment that narrowly passed in Baxter County but failed statewide in November. Litty noted that while the amendment's benefits might be more pronounced for cities than counties, he hoped for a renewed effort to pass it in the future. "We’ll try it again," he said.