CC Notes – August 21st 2017
All Commissioners were in attendance for the regular monthly meeting of the County Commission except David Hassler, Elbert Farley, and Sonya Rimmer. The night’s agenda was full of annual appointments as well as a budget resolution and a speed limit resolution. Before we began the evening’s business, a moment of silence was held for Sonya Rimmer’s family for the recent loss of her father.
Resolutions
The first resolution of the evening was to adopt a speed limit on Sawmill Road. Speed limit changes are normally sent through the Environmental Committee, and only approved by the committee after the Sheriff, Superintendent of Roads, and large majority of residents request and approve of the change. That is currently the case with a subdivision in my district. This process is used due to the controversial nature of speed limit changes, as it provides time for the proposed changes to be known in the community before the full Commission votes. This resolution was sponsored by Commissioner Stone, and the speed limit of 35 MPH was recommended by the Sheriff and Superintendent of Roads. I mentioned the usual process when the resolution was brought to the floor, and Commissioner Stone displayed a petition that was signed by the majority of the residents of the road. Due to the sensitive nature of these types of changes, I made a motion to table the resolution until the Environmental Services committee reviewed it. Commissioner Stone seconded the motion and it passed 15 – 0.
Next, a resolution was passed unanimously to extend the Downtown Crossville Incorporated (DCI) lease for another year so it will now expire August 31, 2018. Trey Kerley, Mike Harvel, and Robert Citkovik were reappointed to the Cumberland County E-911 Emergency Communications District Board of Directors, while Commissioners Tom Isham, David Hassler, Jack Davis, and Terry Carter were appointed to the Financial Management Committee for one year terms. Martha Kemmer Hale and Stanley Hall were appointed to the Cumberland County Regional Planning Commission with terms to expire August 31, 2021. Sandra Brewer was appointed and Glenn Harper reappointed to the Cumberland County Audit Committee with terms expiring August 15, 2019. Marsha Polson was also reappointed as a member to the Cumberland County Board of Health for one year. All appointments were approved unanimously with Commissioners being appointed passing on the respective votes.
The first budget amendment of the year in the amount of $32,941 was approved for the Sheriff-Jail Services fund. An error was made in the budget due to funds being transferred between line items in last year’s budget. The money was reduced from the line item in this year’s budget, but not added back to the line it came from. This was corrected in a unanimous vote.
Financial Report
The final local option sales tax numbers for the BOE are in. $8,879,526 was collected for the year against a budget of $8,905,338 for a net difference of a -$25,812. I’m actually please with that number considering the budget was raised by over $70,000 due to a late calculation change in school funding required by the state. Property tax collections came in at 102.4% of budget, which made up the difference in money owed to the BOE. The Hotel/Motel tax collections finally came in above projections. After lagging behind all year, the final total was $829,757 against a budget of $810,000. Ambulance collections also hit the budgeted amounts as $3,671,172 was collected while $3,650,000 was budgeted which is 100.58%. Prisoner Boarding collections were very good with $530,506 collected against a budgeted amount of $300,000, or 176.84%.
The new budget is posted on my website at http://allenfoster.net for those interested.
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 