We hope the Hamilton County Commission’s Wednesday reversal of a previous vote to establish new oversight rules on certain nonprofit organizations won’t stop the body from careful scrutiny on the use of county money spent on such agencies.
The commission voted 6-3 in late June to force nonprofit organizations that receive at least 25 percent of their operating budget from the county to adhere to county purchasing and travel policies, to provide all their expense records to the county and to allow commissioners to have a seat on each of their boards.
The problem was no one at the time of the vote knew how many organizations would be affected – almost two dozen -and what the upshot would be for each organization in attempting to comply.
Although we supported the measure, it probably should have been delayed until more detailed information was forthcoming.
Since then, commissioners received pushback from the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau, which pocketed $7.8 million in lodging tax revenues in fiscal 2017, and from the Humane Educational Society, which said it annually provides the county with its budget, an outside audit and a contract.