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Carter County approves multiple budget amendments; payment to vendor fails after voting glitch
Summary
At the April 20 meeting the Carter County commission approved several budget amendments including $1.4 million for highways, a $767,481 ARP item, and a $654,518 school capital allocation; a proposed vendor payment of $18,508.60 failed after electronic voting mismatches forced a re-run by voice.
The Carter County Board of Commissioners approved a string of budget amendments on April 20, including a highway fund amendment of $1,400,740.55, an ARP fund item of $767,481.72, a school capital projects amendment of $654,518.80 and a county fund amendment totaling $271,600.79.
Budget committee motion A1 to award $400 to each of 142 Sheriff's Department employees (total about $56,800) passed; the committee brought the item forward without a request from the sheriff's office, and commissioners voted by roll call to approve the award payments.
A separate motion (A2) to pay Shaw's Professional Services an invoice for $18,508.60 ran into technical trouble: commissioners reported the electronic voting app produced mismatched responses after the meeting break and staff switched to voice roll-call voting. After re-running the vote by voice the motion did not reach the threshold to pass and was recorded as failed.
"The system was working fine until we went to a break," one commissioner said during the exchange about the app. County staff said the system was chosen in part for its remote-voting capability during COVID and that they would investigate the update or mismatch issue. The county will evaluate the voting software and may consider alternatives if problems continue.
Other smaller items approved by roll call included solid waste and animal shelter donation amendments and several motions declaring county property surplus. The board also approved county fund budget changes and amendments recommended by committees; the clerk recorded each roll-call result in the meeting minutes.
What happens next: the approved budget amendments will be implemented per department procedures and the failed vendor payment may return to a committee for reconsideration after staff reviews the invoice and the electronic voting irregularity.
