CC Notes – October 19th 2015
The October regularly scheduled meeting of the full Cumberland County Commission was held with all in attendance except for Commissioners Claflin, Rimmer and Geisler. Before business was conducted, the Mayor recognized October 18-24 as Friends of the Art Circle Public Library week. Also recognized was the SMHS Livestock judging team who won the state competition and will be competing in the nationals. Keith Cole has been working with Cumberland County agricultural students for decades, and October 18 was recognized as Keith Cole Day. Finally, the Cumberland County Rescue Squad was recognized for winning several events in the Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads competition. Joe Sherrill of Crab Orchard thanked all involved for the recent work completed on the Crab Orchard fire hall.
You may have heard that 9th District Board of Education Representative Dan Schlafer has resigned his seat to take a job with the BOE Central Services office. The Commission unanimously agreed to take resumes from those interested in filling the position via the County Mayor’s office through November 6th. At that point, all resumes will be passed on to County Commissioners and the election office will verify each individual is qualified for the office. Then, at the November 16th monthly meeting, candidates will have a chance to speak and answer questions before the Commission fills the seat until the next election.
Resolutions
The first resolution of the evening was a budget amendment for the Fire Department in the amount of $300. The Fairfield Glade Rotary Club donated the funds requiring a budget resolution to increase revenues. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Next up was unanimous approval of a budget amendment for $1,570 for the Health Department. This money was moved from the State of Tennessee’s appropriation and is to be used for the Primary Preventative Initiative in Cumberland County. Since the state specifically allowed this moving of funds, no local contribution was required.
During the budgeting process for the current budget, additional part time help was approved for the Veteran’s Services office in the amount of $5,598. This was accidently overlooked when the final budget was put together, and the money was not added. The resolution to approve the funds was approved 15-0.
Money from the unassigned fund balance of the Drug Fund was requested and approved for 18 Tasers during the budget process, but only 11 were budgeted. A resolution for $7,457 was unanimously approved to move the money from the Drug Fund’s Unassigned Fund Balance to the proper line item to allow for this purchase.
An amendment of $35,457 was also approved 15-0 for the Jail. This was a shifting of money from the county maintenance department to the jail. The Sheriff felt the maintenance position would be better suited within his budget and the maintenance director agreed.
The final budget amendment concerned Codes Compliance and Capital Equipment. In all, $142,847 was removed from the expenditure side of the budget and $121,500 was removed from the revenue side. This resulted from the continuation of the contract with the City of Crossville to continue code inspections in Cumberland County. The resolution was approved unanimously.
The last resolution of the night was one involving a Civil Lawsuit with the county. $40,000 was approved unanimously in order to settle Case Number 2015-CV-5948. Under terms of the settlement, the County Attorney advised the Commission neither side is allowed to discuss terms of the settlement. Anyone wanting more details will need to view the lawsuit filed by the Civil Court.
Financial Report
The first two months of sales tax collections for the Board of Education have been above projections. To date, $1,527,397 has been collected, which is $72,498 above projections. Property tax revenue is just starting to come in, with only 1.3% of the budget collected. This number should start to rise soon. The Hotel/Motel tax has an actual collection of $193,609 against a budget of $168,145. That is 25.1% of the annual budget. This is a revenue stream that is seasonal, but the collections are still good compared to the 22.9% collected at this point last year. Ambulance revenue is at $395,744 through two months. Last year at this point collections were at $485,109, and we are below budgeted numbers year to date. In order to make the estimated annual revenue of $3,200,000, we need to collect approximately $267,000 per month on average. These numbers will continue to be watched. Contracted Prisoner Boarding for one month is $69,264. This represents 13.9% of the annual budget of $500,000.
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 