Budget Committee Minutes
Giles County Commission
Mar. 2, 2021 | 10:30 AM | Meeting called to order by Erin Curry
In Attendance
Executive Melissa Greene, Erin Curry, David Wamble, Larry Worsham, Duane Jones, Gayle Jones, Judy Pruett, Tim Risner, Stoney Jackson, Roger Reedy, Joyce Woodard, Tommy Pollard, Rose brown, David Adams, Joseph Sutton, Terry Harwell, Tracy Wilburn, Mike Cesarini, Bill Carey
Prayer & Pledge
Prayer and Pledge led by Tommy Pollard.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made to approve the previous meeting’s minutes by Wamble and seconded by Worsham. Motion Passed.
Highway Amendment
Motion to approve highway budget amendment by Risner. Seconded by D. Jones.
Motion Passes.
MMC
Executive Greene gives the floor to Dr. LeBranche.
He states that MMC has been in the community for 150 years.
The mission of UT as a land grant institution is to educate everyone.
Tuition will immediately drop by 60%
Anyone hope eligible will be able to go for free. This will be most Giles County students.
The first thing added in the fall will be ag-business.
President Randy Boyd has challenged the community to raise one million dollars for the proposed UT Southern that he will match.
Dr. LeBranche would like the county to consider for the next budget year to be a part of the founder’s circle.
The mission is to provide an education to rural students in the rural area.
Curry asks if the county makes the donation what the money would actually go to.
Dr.LeBranche states there are many costs. Half of the money will go to offset tuition costs as well as transitional expenses. These include lawyers, signage, branding, marketing, etc.
Jackson asks for clarification that this is a one-time contribution.
Dr. LeBranche clarifies it is.
Discussion.
Pruett makes a motion to send to the full commission support to support the monumental idea for the county at $100,000 for the next budget year. Seconded by Worsham.
Roll call vote
Curry- yes Wamble- yes Worsham- yes
- Jones- yes G. Jones- no Pruett- yes
Risner- yes
Motion Passes
Solar Panels
Greene gives an update on the solar panels at Proper Polymers.
The IDB has a loan out paying for the solar panels.
At the end of March, the payoff will be $262,515.74
An agreement has been reached with Proper Polymers that states that if they would like to buy the building they have to buy the solar panels as well as the original amortization schedule for the panels.
The panels are not generating enough revenue to pay back the loan.
The city and county would like to pay off the loan and the money generated each month will be split between the city and county. It makes approximately $4,000 a month.
This agreement is that they continue with the schedule so that they still have to pay that $262,515.74.
The county needs approval to take this before the full commission. to be voted on.
Discussion
Motion to pay off the panels from the debt service fund by Worsham. Seconded by Wamble.
Wamble asks if the money made from the panels can go back into the debt service fund.
Moore-Sumners does not believe so but will check.
Motion Passes.
Wamble makes a motion that the money made will be returned to debt services if possible, and if not it will go to the general fund. Seconded by Risner.
Discussion
Motion Passes
Building Inspector
Greene states the property committee voted to send this on to full commission and she wanted numbers to be able to work with before sending it to the full commission.
This idea was discussed before and the numbers presented are still short, because we do not have the 2020 numbers.
Currently, all building permits go through the county clerk’s office and are sent through the state. For completing and sending them on, the county gets back $15 per permit. All the remaining money the state gets to keep.
From 2017- 2020 the state collected $167,140. Giles County received $5,395. The state of Tennessee has one of the lowest building permit costs there is.
Marshall County uses a rate of $1.25 per square foot. If we would have used that rate Giles County could’ve collected $855,000.
If we could have used their rate we could have collected $646,550 as opposed to the $5,395.
The annual cost would contain a salary cost of $50,000, office expenses, training, postage, etc. The county currently has a spare vehicle that could be used if necessary as opposed to buying a new one.
Greene feels the recurring cost would be approximately $83,000.
She proposes this will pay for itself while bringing in additional revenue for the county.
Discussion
Wamble makes a motion to not implement a county building inspector and leave the process as is. Seconded by Adams.
Roll Call Vote
Curry- no Wamble- yes Worsham- yes
- Jones- no G. Jones- yes Pruett- yes
Risner- yes
Motion passes.
Charitable Non-Profits Budget Procedure
Curry states that in 2020 the county asked the department heads to cut their budgets by 10% and then still gave out $470,000 in appropriations. This was $300,000 over budget.
She states there were a lot of hard feelings within the county office about this, so she wanted to go ahead and have a conversation about appropriations now.
She would like the committee to keep in mind there are expenses coming up that are not in the budget.
She would like to ask the committee to consider that once the budget is put together and there is an amount designated for appropriations that the committee does not go over that. Anything additional will come out of the general fund.
There was an application put together for these requests with clear directions. She would like to see the committee not consider applications that do not follow the guidelines.
Wambles makes a motion that if all directions are not followed the application will not be considered. Worsham seconds motion.
Motion passes.
Moore-Sumners states that this process is always advertised in the paper. She has not submitted anything to the paper yet and would like the committee to decide the direction that goes.
Curry states that non-profit giving is not a requirement by the county government and she does not want to.
Moore-Sumners feels like any non-profit in need of the money they are aware of the deadline. She feels that non-profits take the majority of the budget as opposed to the department heads.
- Jones makes a motion that the committee does not advertise non-profit appropriations in the newspaper. Seconded by Wamble.
Motion Passes.
Wamble feels that the commission should not be responsible for deciding how tax-payer dollars are given to non-profits.
Worsham agrees with Wamble and states he would like to exclude the rescue squad from appropriations. He feels that people do not understand how critical that service is.
Curry reminds that there is a requirement to give the library and she would like to see it as well as the rescue squad funded. She adds that other communities often add a cap to the number of years that a non-profit is able to receive money.
Discussion
D.Jones asks how we can get the rescue squad out of charitable funds?
Moore-Sumners adds that in 2020 the rescue squad received more than they ever have. At any time of the year, this committee can give to charitable organizations so long as the public is made aware. She would like to be 100% sure that the amounts given are a need and not an expectation.
Discussion
Ag-Park Lawn Mower
Greene states the Ag-Park Committee met last week and approved to ask this committee for up to $15,000 to purchase a zero-turn lawnmower out of the general fund.
D.Jones makes a motion to approve $15,000 for the lawnmower out of the general fund. Seconded by Pruett.
Wamble states he would like to see an exact number for the price and that they require from a Giles County business.
Discussion
Moore-Sumners states that we can’t require them to purchase locally.
Roll Call Vote
Wamble- no Worsham- yes D.Jones- yes
G.Jones- yes Adams-no Pruett- yes
Curry- yes
Motion passes
D.Jones makes a motion that allows spending up to $15,000 from the fund balance. Seconded by G. Jones.
Wamble- no Worsham- yes D.Jones- yes
G.Jones- yes Adams-no Pruett- yes
Curry- yes
Motion Passes
Beer Fee
Jackson states the Sheriff’s department has requested adding a TBI background check for the beer permit. The permit background checks only asses Giles county. It would cost $29 to pay for the background check.
Discussion
Adams makes a motion to put $500 in a line item for beer permits. Seconded by Wamble.
Motion Passes
Old/New Business
Old Business:
Wamble asks for an update on the airport agreement.
Greene states currently Terry Harrison is writing up what happens right now. Their attorney has it and is making it into a legal document for approval.
New Business:
No new business
Wamble makes a motion to adjourn, Seconded by Pruett.
Motion Passes.
