Hamilton County commissioners won’t raise your taxes to build a better school system or a better sheriff’s department, but they surely will preserve their own individual slush funds – commonly referred to as their discretionary money.
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* Hamilton County commissioners vote to take spending money back * Greeson: Sneaky six commissioners pull six-figure fast one
Chattanooga Times Frees Press reporter Louie Brogdon reported Wednesday’s commission action this way: “Moments before passing the 2016 budget, six of nine county commissioners pulled $900,000 from the county’s fund balance in a last-minute move to preserve special-projects funds for themselves. Before the vote Wednesday morning, no commissioner had said a word publicly about the move, and those who voted in favor supported it immediately with no debate.”
Ask yourselves, how is there “no debate” about this? How is it that “no commissioner had said a word publicly” about the move?
It’s true there has been at least some discussion in previous meetings – mostly generated by a steady drumbeat of stories in this paper about whether “discretionary” money should be in commissioners’ sole purview and about what they spent it on (for years there was no public accounting of that spending). This page, too, has railed about the commissioners’ currying of votes with the discretionary funds as they courted the parents of students in their districts or stroked members of other groups. (Times Free Press reviews show commissioners mainly spend on school athletic extras – not classroom needs.)
Mayor Jim Coppinger said he didn’t include the nearly
$1 million in his proposed budget because the county has many spending needs and limited revenue. After Thursday’s meeting, Coppinger called the commissioners’ amendment “fiscally irresponsible.”
He’s right. Perhaps he should veto the action and suggest that commissioners “publicly discuss” raising taxes if they want their special funds back.