The Cumberland County Commission conducted its monthly meeting for April last evening, April 15. All commissioners were in attendance, except Third District Commissioner Rebecca Stone.

The Commission unanimously approved 10 resolutions, including an amended one from January.

Resolution 01-2019-6 (amended) authorizes receipt of proceeds from forfeited property and designates allocation of those funds. Original wording had a typo in the quoted portion of the TCA. It did not affect the content, but the Budget Committee felt the language should be officially corrected.

Resolution 04-2019-1 authorizes the county to submit the annual grant application for litter and trash collection from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and authorizing acceptance of the grant.

Resolution 04-2019-2 urges the General Assembly to adopt equitable distributions of local sales-tax funds from out-of-state sellers. This would seek required distribution of sales-tax payments collected from online sellers to be based on the purchaser’s destination.

Resolution 04-2019-3 is a budget amendment of $4,500 to the general fund for the jail, pertaining to grant monies from the state for courtroom security upgrades. Along with a 10% match of funds from the sheriff’s department, these funds will be used to purchase communication equipment.

Resolution 04-2019-4, also a budget amendment, accepts a Tennessee Risk Management Safety Grant of $4,100 for the General Purpose School Fund. These funds will be used by the Board of Education for accident prevention/safety items.

Resolution 04-2019-5, another General Purpose School Fund budget amendment, authorizes acceptance of a $90,000 Read to be Ready Summer Grant, to be used for the summer reading program.

Resolution 04-2019-6 authorizes the appointment of four members to six-year terms (expiring April 30, 2025) on the Industrial Development Corporation Board of Cumberland County-Crossville. These members include Cliff Wightman, Josh Stone, Amanda Elmore and Travis Isaacson.

Resolution 04-2019-7 authorizes appointment of Gary Adams to fill an unexpired term on the Cumberland County E911 Emergency Communications District Board of Directors, with a term expiration of August 31, 2022.

Resolutions 04-2019-8 and 04-2019-9 accept offers by Augustine Holdings, LLC, and Michael Matthews, respectively, to purchase property owned by Cumberland County. The Delinquent Tax Committee recommended offers of $358.20 and $1,043.90, respectively, be accepted for the purchase of four parcels in all. This would return the properties in question to the tax rolls after several years of nonpayment of property taxes.

County Finance Director Nathan Brock submitted his monthly financial report to the Commission.

Sales-tax collections through March stand at $6,476,602. The sales-tax receipts for March were more than $18,000 above budget estimates, at $676,708. For the year, collections are $184,927 above projections.

Property-tax collections are at 99.6 percent, up slightly from 97.1 percent this time last year.

Hotel/Motel tax collections continue to lag, standing at $526,922 year to date, down from $546,937 last year at this time. This represents 59.5 percent of the annual budgeted income, compared to 67.5 percent last year.

Ambulance collections were above budget expectations, at $486,012. The EMS billing backlog has been cleared, so the year’s deficit of $149,416 is closing quickly.

Prisoner boarding income is received sporadically from the state; over seven months’ time, that figure stands at $407,970 for seven months, or 65.8 percent of budget.
Prisoner medical costs not within the third-party contact for services were budgeted at $85,000 for the year. Those costs continue to mount and are currently, $124,455 with about $5,000 in additional outstanding bills. A standard cleanup resolution will take care of this overage at the conclusion of the budget year.