Budget committee approves financial summaries and four budget amendments, flags sheriff overtime coding
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Summary
The committee approved year-to-date financial summaries, four budget amendments totaling reallocations including $174,000 for park resurfacing/master-plan updates, and discussed correcting a sheriff overtime coding error expected to be addressed via a future budget amendment.
The Trousdale County Budget & Finance Committee approved the county’s year-to-date financial summaries and enacted four budget amendments at its November meeting. Committee members were briefed on revenue and expense figures, approved a trustee report, and authorized the following budget changes: a $20,000 draw from fund 10107f for audiovisual equipment in two courtrooms; $8,511 for trustee-office data-processing software (fund 10108f); a $174,000 reallocation for park improvements and a required master-plan update; and a $7,000 draw from the general purpose school fund to cover increased county disposal fees.
During the line-by-line review, staff reported strong property-tax collections and noted that revenues excluding grants are outperforming expectations. Amy Ryder (finance/trustee staff) told members, "We had a $2,300,000 deposit of sales tax this month alone," which staff said explains a spike in trustee commission revenue. Members also raised a personnel/coding concern: one attendee pointed out that overtime on line item 187 was shown as "2200.98%" and questioned why a patrol officer’s overtime appears charged to courtroom security. Staff responded that the overtime coding will be corrected and that the committee will likely process a single budget amendment later in the fiscal year to move expenses into the correct account rather than amend monthly.
The park reallocation drew discussion about the cost and scope of updating the park master plan. One member cautioned that a prior plan did not match the park’s boundaries, warning against spending $50,000 without closer oversight. The mayor (unnamed in the transcript) said the parameters are now clarified and the plan must be updated to keep grant eligibility; the mayor noted master plans must be updated every five years.
Committee members also heard an ARPA funding update, which listed projects and items previously approved or proposed using ARPA dollars: courthouse HVAC, EMS certification classes, health department renovations, water department matching funds, employee supplements, an admin building generator, patrol vehicles, a brush truck, a rescue Tahoe, a new ambulance, a mental health grant, a trash truck, playground match funding and acquisition of the Front Street property. Members were told the CoreCivic contract renegotiation is scheduled next June and that the full court’s contract committee is working on recommendations.
All four budget amendments and the financial summaries were approved by voice vote; the transcript records motions, seconds and the chair’s announcement that the motions carried but does not include roll-call tallies.
