David Henzey, chairman of the Faulkner County Fair Board, told the Budget and Finance Committee how county funds are used for prize checks and facility needs, and addressed public questions about governance and financial transparency.

Henzey said the county’s annual $4,500 appropriation historically helps cover prize or “points” checks issued to youth and home‑ec exhibitors, and the fair board reported issuing about 600 prize checks this year totaling roughly $51,000. Henzey said the board raises the balance from ticket sales, ride income and state grants, and that until recently the state provided targeted money for prize checks and facility maintenance.

He said the city (the transcript notes the municipality) owns the exhibition facility, which the fair board uses for roughly two weeks a year under the terms negotiated when the county fair board transferred its previous fairgrounds. Henzey described recent capital investments paid for by the fair board, including new lighting and large fans to reduce heat impacts on livestock; he said the barn’s electrical capacity also required upgrades to avoid outages during the event.

The chairman emphasized the fair board is largely volunteer‑run and that subcommittees (livestock, home economics, other specialty groups) are permitted to raise their own money for special awards; the premium sale and the organization that runs the auction are separate bodies and the fair board does not issue or mail premium‑sale checks. Henzey said that in past years delays in mailing checks were caused by volunteer bookkeeping changes and the need to collect funds from bidders before issuing payments.

Committee members raised transparency questions and the committee chair reminded the board that auditors and county officials have the authority to request financial statements. Henzey said the fair board maintains audited financial controls for state funds and uses a treasurer and spreadsheet accounting for operations, and that board members are unpaid volunteers though limited reimbursements are made for travel and lodging when they attend required meetings.

Henzey asked the committee to contact fair board members before attending meetings because attendance and quorum issues sometimes force cancellations; he also described the difficulty of finding volunteers for the multi‑day event and the importance of reserve funds to cover rainouts or other weather impacts.