Cumberland County Commission Update
The May meeting of the Cumberland County Commission was held tonight (5/17/21) with all Commissioners in attendance except Wendell Wilson.
We have been updating personnel policies for the county. Employees that are under the county general personnel policies include those in the Mayor’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Road Superintendent’s Office. The County Attorney has been working with the other offices to ensure their policies and procedures align with all legal requirements. Unanimous approval was granted to add those changes to the minutes of the Commission meeting for the following offices:
Cumberland County Assessor of Property
Cumberland County Clerk
Cumberland County Circuit Court Clerk
Cumberland County Election Commission
Cumberland County Trustee
The following resolutions were on the agenda (resolution sponsor in parenthesis):
RESOLUTION 05-2021-1 – TO REAPPOINT MEMBERS TO THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH (FOSTER). The Commission unanimously approved the appointments of Dr. Danny Hall, Dr. Christopher Bell, Dr. Randall Crowder, Jim Petty and Becki Hillis to the Cumberland County Board of Health for four-year terms.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-2 – TO REAPPOINT A MEMBER TO THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY “E-911” EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS (FOSTER). Nathan Brock was approved unanimously to be reappointed to the E-911 Board for a four-year term.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-3 – TO APPOINT ONE (1) JUDICIAL COMMISSIONER FOR CUMBERLAND COUNTY, TENNESSEE (GIBSON). Danny Cantwell was appointed for a two-year term as Judicial Commissioner on the recommendation of Judge Larry Warner. The vote to approve was 17-0.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-4 – IN SUPPORT OF DRUG DEALER LIABILITY ACT LAWSUIT (FOSTER). This resolution, upon recommendation of District Attorney Bryant Dunaway, hired the firm Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC as counsel for Cumberland County in the ongoing drug dealer liability act lawsuit to recover money for the county. The resolution was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-5 – TO ACCEPT OFFER(S) TO PURCHASE DELINQUENT TAX PROPERTY OWNED BY CUMBERLAND COUNTY (HYDER). The following delinquent tax properties were approved for purchase and will now go back on the tax rolls. The commission approved the resolution 17-0.
Offerer(s) Property Price Ad Fee
Lynne and Michael Kapalin Map 90K Gp A Parcel 57.00 | 125 Harlech Lane $261.70 $45
Frances Atkins and Star Stone Map 149F Gp E Parcel 17.00 | 8109 Cherokee Trail $389.50 $45
RESOLUTION 05-2021-6 – TO APPOINT MEMBERS TO THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD (HYDER). Kaye Randolph, Deborah Douglass, and Melanie Sherrill were appointed to the Falling Water Regional Library Board for a first term of three years in a unanimous vote.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-7 – BUDGET AMENDMENT, GENERAL FUND, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES $4,500.00 (NORRIS). Private citizens and Middle Tennessee Natural Gas donated money to the EMS Department. This resolution, unanimously approved, accepted the money into the Uniforms line item.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-8 – BUDGET AMENDMENT, GENERAL FUND, COUNTY COMMISSION $50,000.00 (LOWE). These funds, approved 17-0, will be used to move the Road Department into the large structure on the recently purchased Northside Property.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-9 – BUDGET AMENDMENT, GENERAL FUND, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES $183,997.00 (KYLE DAVIS). Cumberland County incurred a total loss of an ambulance due to a fire. This resolution accepted $101,676 in insurance recovery funds and moved $82,321 from the General Fund balance to cover the cost of replacement. The resolution was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION 05-2021-10 – BUDGET AMENDMENT, GENERAL FUND/SANITATION FUND/HIGHWAY FUND (THREET). The County Commission did not give employees a raise during the last fiscal year due to budget concerns over the pandemic. This resolution allocated the funding to give each full-time employee past the 90 day introductory period a $1,500 bonus. Elected officials will not be receiving this payment. The resolution was approved 15-0-2 with Commissioners Norris and Gibson abstaining as they work for the county.
FINANCIAL REPORT
EMS collections for the month were $545,322 which is $211,989 above the monthly budgeted amount of $333,333. Year to date we have collected $4,243,825 which is $910,495 ahead of projections with two months remaining.
Sales tax collections for the General Purpose School Fund came in at $828,199 which is $99,199 above projections. Year to date we have collected $8,831,135 and are $994,832 above budget. I have mentioned before that the County Commission decided to have a third party conduct a revenue audit. The increase in sales tax revenues is due in part to that audit. Adjustments will be made to allocate the adjustments appropriately.
Property tax collections year to date are 99.4% of budget compared to 99.1% at this point last year.
Cumulative Hotel/Motel taxes are $564,887 which is 84.5% of the budget. The budgeted amount was revised down this year to $668,166 from $817,283. Last year, with the larger budgeted amount, we had collected $562,649, or 68.8% of budget, at this point.
Cumulative Prisoner Boarding collections are $305,409, or 50.7%, of the $602,396 annual budget. Last year we were at $450,021, 60.6%, of an annual budget of $743,000.
May 16-22, 2021 is the 46th annual National EMS Week. If you see one of our EMS employees give them a big thank you for a job well done!
Cumberland County Schools COVID-19 data as of Friday, May 14, 2021 from Director of Schools Dr. Ina Maxwell:
10 positive active student cases
2 positive active staff cases
61 total students quarantined due to being determined to have had close contact with another individual who tested positive.
0 total staff members quarantined due to being determined to have had close contact with another individual who tested positive.
Cumberland County Population Vaccinated:
Number of vaccines reported (including first and second doses): 40,008
County Population with at least one dose of any manufacturer: 21,700
County Population Fully Vaccinated: 19,617
COVID-19 Update:The following are the numbers from the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) for Cumberland County as of the date of this newsletter.
67 active cases
6,569 inactive/recovered
133 deaths officially reported
6,769 positive cases
Thank you for being part of the solution and thank you for the opportunity to serve as your County Mayor. If you are interested in hearing my thoughts and views on news, events, and activities in Cumberland County, please subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Thank you,
Allen Foster
Cumberland County Mayor
http://allenfoster.net