Ty Ross, Dalton city administrator, stands outside City Hall.DALTON, Ga. - City Council members on Thursday approved $23,750 for the Dalton/Whitfield County charter commission for the rest of the year.
In a called meeting, council members agreed to spend $12,000 for the city attorney to work with the committee, $2,000 for supplies and $9,750 for consulting fees with the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute.
The commission, which is studying consolidation of Dalton and Whitfield County governments, must receive funding from the county and city for any projects.
The commission voted Wednesday to spend $19,500 to hire the Vinson Institute to help it study consolidation issues.
The Whitfield County Commission's business meeting is Monday evening.
The county expects to fund half the cost of the study.
Dalton City Administrator Ty Ross said he has allocated $25,000 in the city's 2012 budget for the commission.
"We don't know what costs the committee may have next year, so we are budgeting a general number," Ross said.
The funds are not earmarked for any specific purpose. Since the commission was formed in June, neither government earmarked funding in its 2011 budgets.
In other business, the council approved $13,255 in Georgia Homeland Security reimbursement funds for the Dalton Fire Department for its work in Ringgold, Ga., after the April tornado.
The Public Works Department and the Dalton Police Department also have submitted requests for reimbursement funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for their assistance to Ringgold, finance director Cindy Jackson said. Those requests have not been approved.
Public Works Department workers spent eight days working in Ringgold after the storms.