CC Notes – March 20th 2017
The monthly meeting of the full County Commission was held on March 20, 2017 with all members in attendance. The meeting began with a discussion concerning the Sheriff’s Department personnel policies. No official record could be found of these policies, so the Commission voted to accept the policies into record.
Resolutions
The first resolution of the evening was the authorization of a continuous five year reappraisal cycle. The continuous five year cycle will begin July 1, 2017, comprising an on-site review of each parcel of real property over a four year period. In the fifth year, in tax year 2022, revaluation of all the property will occur. This is the normal process our county uses.
Next, Henry Wentz Dickenson was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Cumberland County Board of Equalization. The previous member moved out of state, requiring this appointment to be filled until the term expires. The Board of Equalization reviews property owner complaints concerning property tax assessments. Mr. Dickenson was approved for a term to expire April 30, 2018.
A resolution was presented by the Rules Committee to amend the March 16, 2015 edition of the commission rules. The changes require all County Commission meetings to be recorded and archived, and all Commissioners to be trained on the use of the recording devices.
The next resolution centered on the salary scale the Budget Committee has worked on for well over a year now. Two resolutions were presented, one to modify the Cumberland County Personnel Policy, and the other to establish policies and procedures for classification and compensation. The modification to the Personnel Policy was to clear up some language concerning the workweek to reflect the actual county process. The second resolution was used to create the Policies & Procedures for Classification and Compensation Plans. This document establishes all the details concerning how Cumberland County employees are to be classified and paid including maintenance of the plan, new classifications, revisions of classifications, the pay plan, overtime, etc.
An amendment of $205,000 for the General Purpose School Fund was next. The State of Tennessee increased BEP funding due to healthcare premium increases. This affects BEP revenue and the local match in the BOE budget. The resolution made the required adjustments to the budget lines. The Sanitation Fund was also amended by $2,574 to adjust the Solid Waste Directors pay to meet the new salary scale.
The electrical service in the livestock barn at the Community Complex is in serious need of an upgrade. The Tennessee College of Applied Technology Industrial Maintenance night class will be doing the labor for the upgrades, at no cost, and the county will be purchasing materials, permits, and equipment. A budget amendment was approved in the amount of $7,536 for this work.
$7,800 was approved to go the Animal Shelter budget. The additional revenue came from various donations made to fund the cost associated with the operation of the Cumberland County Animal Shelter.
An amendment for the EMS Department budget for $10,827 was approved. This amendment was required to pay the salary of the newly appointed EMS Director. You will recall that there were many issues when the jobs of Fire Chief and EMS Director were combined. The Commission decided that splitting the positions back was the best route to take. This resolution set the funding for that.
A request from Road Superintendent Scott Blaylock was approved to move $130,000 from the Highway Department’s fund balance. This money will be used for resurfacing and rehabilitation of various county roads.
All resolutions presented were approved unanimously.
Financial Report
BOE sales tax collections for February were down compared to the budgeted amount by $19,375. Estimated collections for this month seem to have rebounded and should come in around $40,000 ahead of budget. For the year, we are trending about $84,000 ahead of projections. Property tax collections are at 90.5% of budget compared to 95.3% at this point last year. The Hotel/Motel tax stands at $479,319 collected year to date against a budget of $810,000. That represents 59.2% of the budgeted amount which is behind the 62.7% from last year. That is partially due to the expected revenue increase in this year’s budget. Ambulance collections are rebounding with a new focus on process and management in the department under the new Director. $408,000 was collected in March, but the budget is still down approximately $449,000 year to date. Prisoner boarding income is at $292,337 against a budget of $300,000 for 97.4% collected.
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 