Hamilton County commissioner Marty Haynes announced on Monday afternoon that he plans to return his discretionary funds to the county’s general fund.
Haynes joins Joe Graham as the second commissioner to try and return their discretionary funding this year after county mayor Jim Coppinger introduced a budget that cut discretionary funding entirely.
That budget was voted down, however, leaving commissioners who supported the mayor’s budget, like Graham and Haynes, with $100,000 in discretionary money that they are now seeking to return to the county.
The commission will vote on a resolution Wednesday that Graham introduced last week which would allow his discretionary funding to be returned to the county.
In a statement, Haynes said he plans to add a friendly amendment to that resolution.
“With little public fanfare but after several weeks of meetings, calls and passionate conversations, my commitment was made to refuse the discretionary funds,” Haynes said in the statement.
This is a developing story. See tomorrow’s Times Free Press for more information.