Finance committee approves series of grants, budget amendments and allocations

The Rutherford County Finance Committee voted unanimously to approve a series of grant applications, budget amendments and allocations during its meeting, including acceptance of an ASPCA grant for animal services, multiple law-enforcement and school-related budget amendments, and a $7,500 county contribution to Stewarts Creek High School’s band trip.

The committee approved the application and acceptance of the 2024 ASPCA National Shelter Grant Initiative for PAWS, a $6,000 award with no county match required to fund rabies vaccinations and emergency veterinary care for members of the public. Committee members then approved a series of sheriff’s-office and justice-related budget amendments: the county accepted $30,978 from the Edward Bower Memorial JAG local allocation to purchase a firearms simulator and approved an amendment using $14,963 (plus a matching amount) to buy 20 body-worn cameras and nine months of cloud services for patrol staff.

The committee also approved ambulance-fund transfers to reclassify personnel lines and to recognize a $35,000 grant from the Garrison East Foundation for health equipment; accepted an evidence-based jail programming grant increase and extension (raising the maximum liability to $2,000,000 and extending the award through June 2027); and approved a contract with Tennessee College of Applied Technology to provide vocational services funded by a SAMHSA award.

Juvenile-court and child-support grants moved forward as well. The committee approved an amendment to the juvenile court custody and prevention grant that extends the award through June 30, 2026, and increases funding by $46,448 (no local match). The body also approved an amendment to accept recurring Tennessee Department of Human Services funds for child-support enforcement under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act; that grant is a matching award (66% grant, 34% county) that helps fund a juvenile-court magistrate position.

Rutherford County Schools' request to recognize $980,385 in state special-education pre-K funding (including FY23–24 carryover) was approved; the funds will pay for additional educational assistants, training, sensory/de-escalation items and supplies for voluntary pre-K and infant/preschool (IPK) classrooms. Two highway-fund amendments were approved: a $675,000 reallocation from fund balance to a bridge-construction line and a personnel-salary adjustment for the highway/public-works departments (committee discussion referenced the countywide salary increase and associated benefits for those departments).

The Rutherford Opioid Board’s recommendations were approved: the county accepted two allocations totaling $139,900, including funds to purchase warranty and cleaning accessories for a specialized mass spectrometer used by the sheriff’s office and a $100,000 tranche to HUSL Recovery (noted as a second tranche requiring future reporting to the board before receiving additional funding).

Commissioners also approved a county payment of $7,500 to Stewarts Creek High School to assist the band’s trip to a presidential inauguration event; the finance director said the funds would be sent to the school activity account. A contract for iPad-based video interpreter services for the Rutherford County Health Department, funded by the state and already budgeted in the department’s grant, was approved with no county match.

All motions recorded on the agenda passed on roll-call votes. Where amounts and terms were specified during discussion, they have been reported as stated by presenters and in roll-call actions.