White County commissioners approve road list, fees updates and multiple budget items; donation sent back to committee

The White County Board of Commissioners approved a package of routine and budget actions Feb. 20, 2025, including the county's annual road list, an update to building-permit fees tied to the 2018 International Building Code, a request to the Tennessee General Assembly to return half of the real-estate transfer tax to counties, and a five-year continuous reappraisal cycle beginning July 1, 2025.

The meeting also approved training supplements for emergency medical services (about $13,000) and school resource officer training (about $8,000), the use of surplus-vehicle proceeds to buy a second SRO vehicle ($115), a recurring $28,000 addition to fund a building codes inspector in the general fund, and a planned $985,000 allocation from American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds for water-system work in the Bonnie Crawford district. Commissioners voted to send a proposed one-time $5,000 donation to Friends of White County Animals back to committee for further review.

Why it matters: the package touches routine maintenance (roads), public-safety training, capital water improvements funded with federal ARP money, and tax- and appraisal-policy requests that could affect how property-tax revenue is shared and how property values are equalized.

Most-important votes and actions

- Annual road list: Commissioners approved the county's required road list for the superintendent to use when scheduling work and prioritizing maintenance. The motion carried on a roll call with the presiding officer stating "9 yes, 5 absent."

- Building-permit fee update (Steering Committee resolution): Commissioners approved an update aligning permit fees with the 2018 International Building Code as adopted by the International Code Council; motion adopted on roll call (stated as 9 yes, 5 absent).

- Real-estate transfer tax request (Steering Committee resolution): The board voted to request that the 114th Tennessee General Assembly consider allocating half of the state's real-estate transfer tax (currently 37 cents per $100 of value) to the county where the tax is collected on a recurring basis. The resolution passed (roll call: 9 yes, 5 absent).

- Continuous five-year reappraisal cycle (Steering Committee resolution): The board set White County to a continuous five-year reappraisal cycle beginning July 1, 2025, citing Tennessee Code 67-5-1601 as the general statutory framework for reappraisal cycles. The resolution passed (roll call: 9 yes, 5 absent).

- Budget committee items: Resolutions 11 (three nonrecurring items), 12 (addition of a building codes inspector), 13 (ARP capital funding for water improvements) and 14 (one-time donation to Friends of White County Animals) were considered together. After discussion the commissioners approved resolutions 11 and 13, approved resolution 12 after separate discussion, and voted to send resolution 14 back to committee for further review. The board recorded the final roll calls as follows: for the separated item labeled 12/2025 the tally was reported as "6 yes, 3 no, 5 passes" (which was recorded by the clerk as the final count); for the other grouped votes the presiding officer announced "9 yes, 5 absent."

- Financial-management resolution (Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System): Finance Director Chad Markham explained a housekeeping change to adopt "Provision 2" into the county's Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System plan language so that employees whose wages exceed the Social Security maximum do not see their employee contribution rate change midyear. Commissioners approved the resolution on roll call (announced as 9 yes, 5 absent).

- Inmate communications contract: The board authorized execution of a five-year contract for inmate telephone/communications services awarded through the county purchasing process. County staff said the contract carries no cost to the county and was presented to the commission to expedite implementation. The motion passed on roll call (announced as 9 yes, 5 absent).

- Surplus property (jail kitchen equipment): Commissioners declared two out-of-service commercial gas convection ovens at the county jail as surplus and authorized auctioning them in place to ease logistics. The motion passed by roll call (announced as 9 yes, 5 absent).

Public comment and local taxes

Resident Robert Taylor spoke during the public-comment portion about concerns over an upcoming property revaluation and the impact on homeowners with fixed incomes. "Property tax's going to kill us," Taylor said, urging commissioners to adjust the tax multiplier to temper increases after reassessment. He also discussed the county's "wheel tax" (the vehicle registration fee that helped fund employee health insurance), saying the public had asked that those collections be held in a separate account so the community could see revenues and expenses tied to that program; he warned against raising the fee further.

What commissioners said

Commissioners and staff provided brief procedural explanations during roll calls and when presenting resolutions. Finance Director Chad Markham described the retirement-plan provision as "more of a housekeeping measure" intended to simplify reporting to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System and to keep employee contribution rates stable.

Next steps

The board did not set new public hearings at the meeting. The donation to Friends of White County Animals (resolution 14) will return to committee for additional discussion before being reintroduced to the full commission.

Ending

The meeting concluded with routine approvals of notaries and a motion to adjourn; the chairman closed the session after a unanimous voice vote to adjourn.