Cities and towns in Arkansas are continuing to deal with a unique slate of challenges, according to Mark Hayes, executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League. The league seeks to help local governments address their challenges.
Speaking to members of the Rotary Club of Little Rock, Hayes said cyber attacks seem to be targeting cities and towns across the board, regardless of their ability to deal with them.
"When you think of the resources that the city of Little Rock has to fight cyber attacks, it's pretty significant, and you in your role, significant resources as well. Central Arkansas Water, pretty significant resources. That is not the case when you go to Dumas. They don't have those kind of resources."
Hayes says the Municipal League offers cyber attack insurance to cities and towns, and that the state government offers money to help governments and schools reclaim lost funds. He says infrastructure like water and sewer systems are also struggling to keep up in much of Arkansas.
"Unfortunately, over time, because of a lack of population and a lack of resources, many smaller systems are now failing, and failing rather dramatically."
Hayes says rate studies and other efforts are being done at the state level in an effort to help fund rural water systems. He says cities and towns are also hoping for roughly $25 million in state funds to be released to help address infrastructure problems.
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