CC Notes – September 21st 2015
All were present for the September 21st, regularly scheduled monthly meeting with the exception of Commissioners Rebecca Stone and Roy Turner. The first item of business was the election of officers for the coming year. Mayor Carey was reelected as Chairman of the Commission, I was reelected Chairman Pro-Tem, and Nancy Hyder was reelected Commission Parliamentarian. All votes were unanimous, with Commissioner Hyder and I passing on our respective nominations.
Next, a discussion of capital expenditures was held. Because of the cash flow issues the county has due to the ice storm damage cleanup, departments were asked to hold off on as many expenses as possible until after October. This will allow the county time to start receiving revenue and hopefully get partial reimbursement from the cleanup.
Resolutions
The first resolution of the evening was to adopt the commercial building codes that the City will use when conducting County building inspections, as well as approval for the Mayor to sign an interlocal agreement for the City to provide those inspections. Cumberland County already has building codes in place. This resolution specified which codes the county would follow, while also adopting Commercial Building Codes. Agriculture buildings are exempt. The resolution passed 13 – 3, with Commissioners Carter, Geisler, and Kinnunen voting against.
Several appointments to various boards were next on the agenda. Valerie Cox was appointed to the Crossville-Cumberland County Convention and Visitors Bureau with a term that expires June 30, 2016. Terry Hassler was appointed to the E-911 Board and Everett Bolin was reappointed to the board. Both terms are for four years. Tim Claflin, Jill Ritzman, Josh Stone, Jill Davis, and Valerie Cox were appointed to the Ethics Committee for one year terms. Kenny Rosser was appointed and Russell Smith reappointed to the Cumberland County Regional Planning Commission for four year terms. Randy Graham was reappointed to the Tri-County Industrial Development Board of Cumberland, Morgan, and Roane Counties for a six year term. Finally, Wayne Shadden and Charles Daugherty were reappointed to the Wildlife and Fisheries Committee for four year terms. All appointments were unanimous. Commissioner Claflin passed on the Ethics Committee appointments.
Financial Report
Financials are beginning to show up for the new budget year. Property tax revenue will begin to come in during the month of October. Ambulance revenue for one month, August, was $193,448. The budget is $3.2 million annually, so approximately $267,000 is needed per month to make that target. Hotel/Motel tax for the first month was approximately $108,000. $770,000 was budgeted for the year. This revenue is seasonal, but off to a good start.
For those interested, the final 2015 – 2016 Budget has been posted on my website, allenfoster.net, on the Documents of Interest page.
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 
I want to know why the budget of the ambulance service depends on those who use the service while the folks who need the fire department are not charged outrageous prices? If a police officer is called to your house, there is no charge, if an ambulance gives you a ride from your house to the hospital, you may be charged over $1000………….why???
Local government doesn’t generally provide free healthcare services, although the taxpayers do subsidize ambulance services as fees do not cover all of the expenses. Generally, ambulance services are covered in whole or in part by insurance. This means that most are already paying for ambulance service in their insurance premiums. In order to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayer, billing is passed on to the actual user of the service. Also, many times a non-resident and non-taxpayer may use the ambulance service.