County Mayor’s Notes – April 15th, 2019
The Cumberland County Broadband survey is still available on the county website (https://cumberlandcountytn.gov/broadband-survey/). I am trying to gather information on the actual speeds by the various internet providers in Cumberland County. Fast or slow, good or bad, please take the survey.
It’s been another busy month in the office. The budget process begins for the County on May 6th with an all-day budget hearing. To prepare, I held budget review meetings with all departments that report to my office. I worked with the county HR Director and the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) to continue the process of updating the personnel policies for Cumberland County. I also attended the CTAS Internal Controls class to learn more about operations, reporting, and compliance issues.
I spoke to several groups including presentations on county government operations to the Cumberland Lakes POA and the TEA Party. I gave the Fairfield Glade Board an update on the activities in Cumberland County Government, and I spoke briefly and signed a proclamation at the Cumberland County Blue Ribbon Committee Blue Ribbon Event for the prevention of child abuse. I also attended the Beecher Seegraves Veterans Memorial Park groundbreaking in Pleasant Hill and participated with the County Fire Department, the Crossville Fire Department, and the Fairfield Glade Fire Department in the Smoke Alarm Blitz. Well over 1,000 smoke alarms were installed in Cumberland County homes on Saturday, April 6.
I also traveled to Nashville with Crossville Mayor James Mayberry and met with State Representative Cameron Sexton, State Senator Paul Bailey, and various state government officials to discuss issues related to economic and community development here in Cumberland County, including retail and industrial development.
The April 15th meeting of the full County Commission was held with all Commissioners in attendance except Rebecca Stone.
Resolutions
The following resolutions were approved (resolution sponsor in parenthesis):
RESOLUTION 01-2019-6-(AMENDED VERSION) To authorize the receipt of proceeds from forfeited property and designate the allocation of such funds (Blalock). The original language of the resolution passed back in January had a typo in the TCA that was quoted. The content was the same but the Budget Committee felt the language should be officially corrected. The resolution passed 17-0.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-1 Authorizing submission of an application for a Litter and Trash Collecting Grant for fiscal year 2019-2020 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation and authorizing the acceptance of said grant (Wilson). This is the same grant the county applies for and receives annually. The resolution was unanimously passed.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-2 To urge the General Assembly to adopt an equitable distribution of local sales tax revenue from out-of-state sellers (Blalock). This resolution requests our that state legislators require the distribution of sales tax collected online to be based on the destination of the purchaser. The resolution passed 17-0.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-3 Budget Amendment, General Fund, Jail, $4,500.00 (Lowe). This resolution allowed the acceptance of additional grant monies from the State of Tennessee for courtroom security upgrades. These funds, with a 10% match from the Sheriff’s Department, will be used to purchase communication equipment. The resolution passed unanimously.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-4 Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Tennessee Risk Management Safety Grant, $4,100.00 (Hyder). The Board of Education (BOE) received a Tennessee Risk Management Safety Grant to be spent on accident prevention/safety items. The resolution to accept the funds passed 17-0.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-5 Budget Amendment, General Purpose School Fund, Read to be Ready (RTBR) Summer Grant, $90,000.00 (Blalock). The resolution to accept this grant was approved unanimously. The money will be used for the RTBR Summer reading program.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-6 To appoint Cliff Wightman, Josh Stone, Amanda Elmore, and Travis Isaacson to the Industrial Development Corporation Board of Cumberland County-Crossville for six (6) year terms to expire April 30, 2025 (Foster). The resolution was approved 17-0.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-7 To appoint Gary Adams to fill an unexpired term on the Cumberland County “E-911” Emergency Communications District Board of Directors through August 31, 2022 (Foster). The resolution was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-8 To accept the offer of Augustine Holdings, LLC to purchase property owned by Cumberland County (Holbrook). The Delinquent Tax Committee recommended an offer of $358.20for the purchase of one parcel. This will return the property to the tax rolls after it had been removed due to property taxes not being paid for several years. The resolution was approved 17-0.
RESOLUTION 04-2019-9 To accept the offer of Micheal Matthews to purchase properties owned by Cumberland County (Threet). The Delinquent Tax Committee recommended an offer of $1,043.90for the purchase of three parcels. This will return the property to the tax rolls after it had been removed due to property taxes not being paid for several years. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Financial Report
Sales tax collections through March were $6,476,602. The March receipts were $676,708 which is above budget by $18,614. For the year, collections are approximately $184,927 above budgeted projections. Property tax collections are at 99.6% compared to 97.1% at this point last year. Hotel/Motel collections are $526,922 year to date compared to $546,937 last year. That is 59.5% of the annual Hotel/Motel budgeted income compared to 67.5% last year. Prisoner boarding, which is received sporadically from the State of Tennessee, is still at $407,940 for seven months which is 65.8% of budget. Ambulance collections were above budget at $486,012. The EMS backlog of billing has been caught up, so the deficit for the year of $149,416 is closing quickly. Prisoner medical costs that are outside of the third-party contract for services were budgeted at $85,000 for the year. Those costs continue to increase and currently stand at $124,455 with approximately $5,000 of outstanding bills yet to be reconciled. This overage will be handled at the end of the budget year in the standard cleanup resolution.
Thank you for allowing me the honor of serving as your County Mayor. It is a privilege.
If you are interested, you can subscribe to my County Mayor newsletter by clicking here: http://eepurl.com/c_Zx-L.
Sincerely
Allen Foster
Cumberland County Mayor
http://allenfoster.net
allenfoster.com 