CC Notes – June 17th 2013
All members except Commissioners Jeff Brown and Charles Seiber were present for the June meeting of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners. The first discussion of the evening, a 20 year Interlocal agreement between Cumberland County and the City of Crossville for operation of the Big South Fork Visitors Center, was unanimously approved. This agreement provides a written record of the specifics concerning the operation of the center as well as the City’s obligation for a portion of construction funding. Approval of easements for utility work in the downtown area were approved 13 – 3. Downtown Crossville, Inc. and City Clerk Sally Oglesby presented the details of the project and discussed storm water drains and underground utilities. Commissioners Brian Houston, Harry Sabine, Nancy Hyder, Caroline Knight, David Hassler, Johnny Presley, Joe Koester, Jan McNeil, Larry Allen, Terry Carter, John Kinnunen, Carmin Lynch and I voted in favor of the easements. Commissioners Mike Harvel, Roy Turner, and Sonya Rimmer voted against.
Resolutions
As the budget year is coming to an end, many resolutions were presented to clean up end of year line items. Most resolutions were to transfer funds between line items or to adjust income. Resolutions approved include:
- Budget Amendment, Sanitation Fund, $206.00
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $1,325.00
- Budget Amendment, Highway Fund, $1,351.00
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $3,468.00 (Library)
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $4,950.00, (Sheriff’s Department/Fire Department)
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $7,011.00 (Library)
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $34,151.00 (Juvenile Services/Courtroom Security/Jail)
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $48,932.00
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $93,373.00, (Drug Court)
- Budget Amendment, General Fund, $110,000.00 (Jail)
The Board of Education is still working on their budget as is the Budget Committee of the County Commission. In order to keep our local government running until a budget is approved, a resolution was adopted approving a continuing budget and tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013. The resolution authorizes the expenditure of funds by the various county offices and departments and keeps the tax rate and distribution the same. The resolution was approved unanimously.
A resolution appointing Martha McKnight to the Cumberland County Library Board for a term of three years to begin July 1, 2013 and end June 30, 2016, appointing Frank Edwards to the Cumberland County Library Board for a second term of three years to begin July 1, 2013 and end June 30, 2016, and appointing Lisa Harrison to the Falling Water River Regional Library Board for a second term of three years to begin July 1, 2013 and end June 30, 2016 was also unanimously approved. A resolution to accept the offer of D. Christopher and Deborah J. Mauch to purchase property owned by Cumberland County was approved 13 – 3 with Commissioners Carter, Havel, and Turner voting against.
Property that includes the former VSO office located behind the Courthouse as well as the Spirit Broadband Amphitheater was approved for sale to the City of Crossville. The city is already maintaining the amphitheater and the former VSO building is no longer in use as VSO offices were relocated to the bottom floor of the courthouse due to the poor condition of the building. The resolution passed 14 – 2 with Sabine and Turner voting against.
The final resolution of the evening was the approval of a PILOT (Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Tax) Agreement with Colinx. Colinx is about to undertake another expansion project that will add 65 jobs to the local economy. This agreement is a part of the continued efforts of the city and county working together with Colinx to aid this expansion effort. The resolution was unanimously approved.
Financial Report
The BOE portion of sales tax collections were down against budget again to the tune of $59,656 in May. Year to date, the collections are down $134,482 compared to the budgeted amount. The hope is that the relatively strong property tax collections will offset the dip in sales tax revenue at year end. It should be noted that more actual sales tax dollars have been collected this year than last, but we are down versus projected income. Property tax collections are at 102 percent for the year, and the hotel/motel collections are at 91.5 percent of budget. Ambulance collections for the year are at approximately $2.6 million versus a budget of $3 million and should hit the budgeted target. Ambulance collections for April were $238,307. Prisoner boarding collections continue to be strong at 105.2 percent of budget.
Your feedback is important to me. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. Thank you for allowing me to serve the 4th District and Cumberland County.
Sincerely
Allen Foster
Board of Commissioners
4th District Representative
http://allenfoster.net
allenfoster.com 