Votes at a glance: White County commissioners act on road addition, fees, bylaws, budget amendments, industrial loan and opioid funding

At its June 18 meeting the White County Board of Commissioners approved multiple consent and committee resolutions, adopted numerous fiscal-year-2025 budget cleanup amendments, confirmed a $200,000 revolving-loan award for Jackson Kayak and approved opioid-related funding for the sheriff’s office. One proposed bylaws amendment to permit limited electronic attendance failed to reach the two‑thirds threshold required for a bylaws change.

Key outcomes

- Resolution 46-06-2025: Adopt Jersey Pike into the County Road list — Approved (14–0).

- Resolution 47-06-2025: Mineral severance tax (state-authorized increment on sand, gravel and similar materials) — Approved (14–0). County staff explained the incremental nickels equate to about $25,000 per nickel directed to the highway department.

- Resolution 48-06-2025: Authorize clerk collection of a $12.50 statutory fee under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-3-106 (district attorney support) — Approved (14–0).

- Resolution 49-06-2025: Bylaws amendment to allow very limited electronic attendance (medical emergency, active military service, inclement weather; electronic presence not counted toward quorum) — Motion passed on roll call 8–6 but did not meet the two‑thirds majority required to amend bylaws; therefore the resolution failed to take effect.

- Resolution 50-06-2025: Bylaws amendment establishing procedures for acceptance of donated assets to the county (notification and financial-impact requirements) — Approved (14–0).

- Resolutions 51–56 and 63-06-2025: A package of fiscal-year-2025 “clean-up” amendments and reallocations (school fund appropriations for Doyle Elementary construction and HVAC at White County High School CTE building; cafeteria fund reallocation; highway/public works appropriations including $30,000 for tractor repairs; general fund adjustments including a $20,000 purchase to replace recurring storage rental) — Approved together (14–0).

- Resolution 60-06-2025: Confirm action of the Industrial Development Board to loan $200,000 at 4% for 10 years to Jackson Kayak for purchase of a vinyl-axle oven to support local production — Approved (14–0). County materials state the project supports existing production lines, anticipates 10–12 new jobs and leverages prior loan-funded equipment; county staff said the loan comes from a revolving fund restricted to local business loans.

- Resolution 61-06-2025: Appointment of George Daniels to the White County Senior Activity Board — Approved (14–0).

- Notaries: Devin Benson, Andrea Brown, Debbie Johnson, Christy McCaleb and Caleb Schueller — Approved (14–0).

- Opioid resolution (sheriff’s department funding that had been tabled at a prior meeting) — Approved (14–0); the sheriff and the executive reported clarifications on program guidelines and requested the funding be moved off the table.

Budget revenue/appropriation actions

- Resolution 57-06-2025 (FY2026 revenue resolution) — Failed (2–12). Because this revenue resolution failed, the related FY2026 appropriations resolution (58-06-2025) and the nonprofit contributions resolution (59-06-2025) were sent back to the budget committee for revision.

Votes and thresholds

Several items required only a majority vote and passed unanimously. The bylaws amendment (Resolution 49-06-2025) required a two‑thirds vote and did not meet that threshold (8–6 on the roll call). For transparency, roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting minutes for each resolution.

Context and next steps

Commissioners and staff repeatedly noted that employee compensation — a proposed series of pay raises and a one-time longevity payment — is the primary driver of the tax-change calculations that produced the draft $1.57 composite rate. Because Resolution 57 failed, the budget committee will return with revised revenue and appropriation proposals, and the commission scheduled a follow-up budget committee meeting for Tuesday, June 24 at 5:30 p.m.

Material from the Industrial Development Board request indicated Jackson Kayak currently employs about 140 workers and has recently acquired additional brands; county speakers said the loan-funded equipment will reduce seasonality and production waste and is expected to enable 10–12 new local positions.