Hamilton County commission members seek to relax spending rules

Tim Boyd
Tim Boyd
photo Tim Boyd

After nine months of chafing under restrictions to their discretionary funds, county commissioners now want the strings detached in this coming budget year.

Last year, Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger moved the nearly $1 million account to a bond fund, which limited how the money could be spent. At the time, only Commissioner Greg Beck expressed concern over changing the rules. The rest praised the restrictions. But five months later, commissioners questioned the wisdom of the change. Commissioner Tim Boyd said he didn't like having the county pay interest on discretionary purchases.

In a budget request for the commission, the nine-member body asked Coppinger to include the annual $100,000-a-piece for so-called discretionary spending in the upcoming 2016 budget. Commissioners want it to be moved back into the county's general fund, so they can spend the money how they wish.

According to state law, bond funds can only be spent on public property, on capital items that will last longer than 15 years, such as school playground equipment, band instruments, heavy machinery or construction projects.

Commissioner Tim Boyd says he doesn't like those restrictions.

"It really took the discretionary part right out of it," he said. "I think for the most part, we as a whole didn't realize how much money we were spending in discretionary that didn't meet those parameters."

Under the new rules, commissioners can't buy band or sports uniforms for schools or contribute to local nonprofits, Boyd said.

"Our hands are strung. We can't even team up with the PTA ... to pay for an art teacher," he said.

Some good government and watchdogs groups say that's a good thing. Some have criticized the practice as inappropriate political spending -- especially if money's given out during an election year.

Not all commissioners want to lose the rules.

Commissioner Joe Graham says he likes the restrictions and thinks they should stay, no matter where the money comes from.

"I would prefer the discretionary funds stay in the bond fun. I like the rules. And if they go into the general fund, I think we should set some rules," Graham said.

Commission Chairman Jim Fields said the county's administrative staff compiles the budget, and he oversees the process.

He said the commission hasn't asked for anything new or different.

Last year, he said Coppinger moved the discretionary dollars into bond funds to free up money in the general fund for raises for employees.

"That's the way it's always been done, that's the way it was submitted last year and it was during budget hearings that it changed to the bond fund," Fields said.

SPENDING SLOW DOWN

Commission spending has slowed since the bond restrictions were put in place.

In 2014, the commission as a whole spent $1.3 million of the $1.5 million it had amassed. That means commissioners spent 84 percent of the total pot, though former Commissioners Fred Skillern and Larry Henry made up 31 percent of that money.

Skillern spent $389,298 before leaving office, and Henry spent $112,754 before he was elected Circuit Court Clerk. Commissioner Randy Fairbanks took Skillern's spot, and Sabrena Smedley won Henry's old seat on the new commission.

But so far in fiscal year 2015, which started July 1, commissioners have only spent 27 percent of the $1.1 million they started with, or $319,447.

Coppinger said Thursday it's "premature" to discuss which pot he will put the discretionary funds in -- or if they will be included in the final budget at all.

"We are still working through the budget and it's premature to really discuss that particular item," he said.

THE OTHER POCKETS

Hamilton County is the only county in the state that allows individual commissioners to direct more than $5,000 a year.

And along with the discretionary funds, which can amass year-by-year if they go unspent, commissioners have other unrestricted sources from which to pull.

Some commissioners have old discretionary dollars left over from past years, which are not subject to the bond rules. And some, such as Fields, just use other sources of expense money to fund favored nonprofits.

In March, the commission voted to spend $20,000 out of Fields' discretionary fund to give to the Mountain Education Foundation, a nonprofit that supports schools on Signal Mountain.

But at the time, Fields only had about $825 in his official discretionary fund.

Instead, he used commission expense money that had "rolled over" from previous years.

Commissioners are budgeted $8,000 a year for out of town travel and $4,500 for local travel. What they don't use rolls over to the next year and can be spent at their discretion -- although it does not get put in the discretionary fund and is not regularly reported as discretionary and bond funds are.

"I never file expenses, so I just had let it build up for a few years," Fields said.

Fields said he has filed expenses in the past, but he stopped a few years ago.

Good government and watchdog groups say the funds are inappropriate and can be used to buy votes.

But commissioners, such as Boyd, disagree.

"Well, maybe some people do that. I certainly don't have that intention. My intention is to try to be a source for public funds that would not otherwise be available to any of these organizations," Boyd said. "And if a commissioner uses bad judgment in dispersing his discretionary funds, man he's going to be held accountable in the public."

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.

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