CC Notes – March 16th 2015
The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners met for the regularly scheduled March monthly meeting with all members in attendance.
Resolutions
The first resolution of the evening was regarding the application for a proposed tire-shredding facility within the city limits of Crossville. The County and City recently held a joint meeting and period of public comment as required by state law for facilities of this nature. After this meeting and time for comment, the County Commission voted 18 – 0 to allow the facility to begin operation.
A resolution authorizing the submission of an application for a Litter and Trash Collecting Grant was approved unanimously. This is the same grant that the county has been receiving for the last several years and funds are used to offset expenses in the Sanitation Department.
A resolution creating an Adventure Tourism District and plan in Cumberland County was also approved 18 – 0. Becoming a certified adventure tourism district allows qualified businesses to earn a jobs tax credit that can help offset part of franchise and excise tax liability.
The Rules of the County Commission were also unanimously changed to ensure proper notification of County meetings that include committee meetings. A resolution to increase the portion of the Dispatch Director’s pay salary supplement that the county pays was sent back to the Budget Committee for additional study in an 18 – 0 vote.
Resolutions were also unanimously passed allowing the funding mechanisms for the upgrades to the county radio system to be put in place. The County will be funding these upgrades with reserve funds and no new debt will be incurred for the system. A $15,000 General Purpose School Fund resolution was passed that allows an increase to the Contributions and Gifts revenue line and an increase in expenditures in the Fee Waiver line of the BOE budget. You may have heard this referred to as the “Shoe Fund”. Local individuals and businesses contribute money to the school system each year to fund clothing for the needy children in the community. This resolution simply ensured the expenditures were adjusted to match revenue.
A resolution in the amount of $2,352 was unanimously approved for the Sanitation Fund that allowed the movement of funds from Convenience Center to Waste Pickup and Recycling line items. The Sheriff’s Department received a State of Tennessee – Governor’s Highway Safety Grant for impaired driving law enforcement activities. The grant is 100 percent funded and requires no matching local funds. A resolution was unanimously passed allowing the Sheriff’s Department to receive the $6,500 grant.
Financial Report
Local Option Sales Tax collections for the Board of Education came in at $825,196 against a budgeted amount of $791,668 for the month. The monthly difference is a positive $33,528 giving a year to date positive of $62,671. The estimated figures for the next month look strong as well. Property Tax collections are at 84.8 percent year to date, and look to be trending toward meeting budget expectations. The Hotel/Motel Tax collected for the year is $429,113 against a budget of $734,738. This represents 58.4 percent collected. Ambulance collections stand at a total of $1,693,893 for the year with a $3,000,000 estimate in the budget. The county’s third party billing company was able to successfully catch up the late bills for the department, with an additional $720,000 billed that should be collected over the next few months. This will be in addition to the normal monthly revenue that is expected. Prisoner Boarding, as previously discussed, is down and will remain so for the year. At this point, we have received $500,388 against a budget of $1,224,885.
After I graduated from college, my wife and I moved to Nashville to begin our careers. It wasn’t long before we decided to move back and raise our family here in Cumberland County. We live here by choice because we believe there is no better place to live than right here in Cumberland County. The recent ice and snow storms have once again shown what kind of people live here. It was amazing to see how everyone pulled together and worked to help each other instead of waiting around for others to do so. I want to say thanks to all those that worked so tirelessly during that time. Employees and volunteers, neighbors, churches and friends pulled together to help those in need. The hard work from our county and city employees and volunteers, VEC, CMC, and countless others is greatly appreciated. Cumberland County is a special place, and I want to once again thank you for allowing me to serve the 4th District and Cumberland County. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at any time.
Sincerely
Allen Foster
Board of Commissioners
4th District Representative
http://allenfoster.net
allenfoster.com 