By Paul Leach
Correspondent
BENTON, Tenn. – The Polk County Commission at a special meeting this week approved the 2010-11 budget before the Thursday deadline.
Commissioners unanimously kept the tax rate at $2.18 per $100 of assessed value.
BY THE NUMBERS* Tax rate: $2.18 per $100 assessed value* $1.1775: General fund* 66.25 cents: Schools* 34 cents: Debt serviceSource: Polk County Commission
“We do not have a tax increase in this tax levy over the previous year,” Commission Chairman John Pippenger said.
The commission then approved the budget after its public reading by County Executive Hoyt Firestone. The budget lists total estimated expenditures of $17.21 million, or about $736,000 under last year’s budget.
In other business, commissioners unanimously voted to grant $15,000 to the Boys and Girls Club in Benton. The county donated $12,000 to the nonprofit organization in each of the two previous years.
Commissioner Sheena Gaddis requested information on the organization’s plans to expand into another of the three commission districts.
Pippenger said the commission could ask for operational plans from the Boys and Girls Club. He and other commissioners said the panel funds projects pretty evenly in all three districts.
Also, County Attorney Jim Logan addressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving Commissioner Daren Waters, who did not participate in the budget vote.
Gaddis had said at the Sept. 16 meeting that Waters,a teacher’s aide in the Polk County school system, had a conflict of interest in budget votes because of his involvement in the system. She cited conversations and correspondence with the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Assistance Service, UT’s program for promoting better county government.
Logan said the matter was a “facts-driven issue” and that Waters’ continuous term of employment with the county before his election exempted him from an outright conflict.
He also said it was his understanding that Waters had taken a significant reduction in pay so that he might work closer with students.
“He is to be applauded for that, as opposed to his motivations being questioned,” Logan said.
Logan said he would follow up with CTAS to ensure all parties had a thorough understanding of the facts.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland, Tenn. E-mail him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.