Committee asks commission to consider repeal of 1981 financial-management act, advances finance director recruitment plan

The Sumner County Budget Committee voted to recommend that the full county commission consider repealing the private 1981 financial-management act and to pursue a separate vote on provisions tied to the county—————————————————————— 2012 act, while staff pursues legal opinions to clarify which statute governs county financial operations.

The statute question matters because committee members said it affects who hires and oversees the county finance director and whether county financial statements must be consolidated with other entities, such as the school system. Committee members asked the county law office for a written opinion and for CTAS and other legal views to be documented before the commission acts.

Committee members discussed the legal disagreement at length. "If there's a conflict between the two, the 'eighty-one Act is going to trump because it was never gotten rid of," a committee member said during the discussion, a line the law director said reflected the county's current legal uncertainty. The committee asked for a written legal opinion from the law director and said it may seek a judge's interpretation if needed.

Alongside the governance discussion, committee members advanced a recruitment plan for the county finance director. The committee approved asking the budget committee to allocate up to $60,000 to hire a national executive search firm, and it approved recommending a transition overlap for the outgoing director of up to 90 working days. A committee member moved that the budget request include "up to $60,000 to hire a search firm," language that the committee approved.

Committee members discussed the likely salary and package needed to attract candidates. The committee recorded a preliminary salary band mentioned during discussion of roughly $180,000 to $200,000 and talked about market pressures for remote or hybrid work. Committee members asked that a hiring process include both the mayor's office and this committee in candidate review to produce a broad candidate pool.

The law director noted a potential conflict in representing the committee if the county commission is the subject of the legal question; the committee requested the law director provide his written opinion and confirmed the option of hiring outside counsel if a conflict prevents him from representing certain parties.

Committee members said the commission vote to repeal the 1981 act would require the same method used to adopt it (a two-thirds vote), and several members urged placing the repeal or amendment before the full commission even if they expect the commission vote to fail. The committee voted to forward the repeal recommendation and other cleanup proposals to the commission for consideration.

The committee set timelines tied to the county budget calendar: members asked that recruitment activities proceed in parallel with budget requests and that, if a hire is made, transition overlap be funded by the county. Staff were instructed to bring cost estimates and a recruitment timeline back at the next meeting.