During the Cumberland County Commission meeting last night, members unanimously approved the low bid of $2,999,750 for the renovations at the courthouse, including a complete HVAC replacement. As a reference, the original estimate was for up to $3.9 million. The money will come from existing funds, including the $2 million grant from Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton and Senator Paul Bailey and debt service reserves. Conservative budgeting will allow the county to pay for the courthouse work with reserves. Officials say no new debt will be required.

In the latest finance report to the commission, emergency medical service collections were $317,724, which is below the budgeted monthly amount of $366,667. Year to date, the county is $154,818 ahead of budgeted projections with total collections of $2,354,816. Sales tax for the board of education was $1,314,873 which was about $61,000 below budget. Year to date, the county is approximately $270,000 below budget. Property tax collections are just over 57 percent of the budget halfway through the year. Hotel/Motel collections are $660,379 and were $646,122 in the prior year. Prisoner boarding collections from the state stand at $150,511.