Benton County Commission approves slate of board appointments, budget moves and new tire-fee schedule

Benton County commissioners met July 21 at the Benton County Courthouse and approved a series of routine appointments, budget adjustments and policy resolutions, including a reappointment to the county electric board, several animal-shelter and parks-and-rec appointments, a proposed transition of county internet and phone services to SCR Network, and a newly adopted waste-tire disposal fee schedule.

Mayor Mark Ward sponsored the meeting’s slate of resolutions and presented each measure. The commission reappointed Phil Melton to the Benton County Electric System Board (Resolution No. 20250721-01); on the roll-call vote Melton and Commissioner Burke abstained and the resolution passed with 14 Ayes. The commission also approved appointments to the county animal shelter board (John Parker and Maureen Kerins, Resolutions 20250721-02 and -03) and to the parks & recreation board (Adam Deckerd and Ben Reed, Resolutions 20250721-04 and -05). Those motions passed on roll-call votes, with the Deckerd and Kerins appointments recorded as unanimous among those present.

The commission approved Resolution No. 20250721-06 to authorize SCR Network to assume responsibility for county internet and telephone services; legislative materials presented at the meeting state the switch would save the county an estimated 53% annually and improve local response times. The roll-call vote was 15 Ayes, 1 No (Commissioner Dwayne Fowler), and 2 Absent.

The commission adopted a waste-tire disposal fee program (Resolution No. 20250721-09) that sets fees by tire size and rim presence and allows each Benton County household to dispose of up to 20 tires per year at no charge. The trash-fee resolution cites Tennessee Code Annotated Sections 68-211-855(b), 68-211-835(g)(1) and 68-211-866(b) as statutory bases for counties to operate and charge for tire collection. The measure passed on roll-call 16 Ayes, 0 No, 2 Absent.

Other votes included: a lease for a replacement Konica Minolta copier at the Senior Center (Resolution No. 20250721-07); renewal of the county’s lease with the State of Tennessee for the building at 560 Benton Industrial Road (Resolution No. 20250721-08); a $2,325 appropriation to buy plates for protective vests for the sheriff’s office (Resolution No. 20250721-10); and several school-related budget actions and purchasing-cooperative approvals presented by DOS Mark Florence (Resolutions 20250721-11 through -14). Those measures passed on roll-call votes as recorded in the minutes.

Commissioners also approved a move of $6,441 within the school budget (20250721-13) and the budgeting of $1,123.37 received from the State to school instruction supplies (20250721-14). The commission approved corrections and amendments to two earlier resolutions concerning surplus sheriff vehicles and trustee benefit appropriations (amendments to Resolutions 20250519-14 and 20250616-16).

The commission took action on one employee-compensation proposal (Resolution No. 20250721-15) that sought an additional 1% raise for county employees. That resolution was pulled by the chair and did not receive a roll-call vote; Commissioner Rocky Presson announced a formal appeal of the chair’s ruling and read from Robert’s Rules of Order during the minutes.

Finally, the commission suspended the rules to consider Resolution No. 20250721-16, a supplemental $2,000 appropriation to the Benton County Volunteer Program. The motion to suspend the rules passed on roll-call 14 Ayes, 2 No (Commissioners Price and Murphy), 2 Absent; after amendment to add specific appropriation lines the amended resolution passed 16 Ayes, 0 No, 2 Absent.

The meeting adjourned after routine certification of the minutes.