Hamilton County commissioners are squabbling over a request to double their travel allowance, to $25,000, in the fiscal 2019 budget.
Opponents call the increase proposed by Chairman Randy Fairbanks a sneaky way of getting back discretionary money to spend at will in their districts.
COMMISSION SPENDING
Hamilton County commissioners’ travel and discretionary spending is tracked on the commission website. Each commissioner gets $12,500 a year for local mileage, meals and office expenses. Unspent sums can be rolled over to the next year and spent for other things. Some commissioners also spent money left over from the discretionary accounts that ended in 2017. Here’s what they have spent this year to date, rounded to the nearest dollar.› District 1: Chairman Randy FairbanksLocal mileage, meals and office$8,855 (includes $1,000 to Soddy-Daisy Food Bank)Discretionary$2,400: Mowbray VFD$65: Chattanooga Times Free Press legal ad$6,000 Soddy-Daisy Vietnam Veterans Foundation$5,000: Sale Creek High School softball field tarpTotal discretionary: $13,465› District 2: Jim FieldsLocal mileage, meals and office$17,468 (includes $7,869 to Signal Mountain Police Department, $9,000 to Signal Mountain Lions Charity)DiscretionaryNone› District 3: Marty Haynes/Greg Martin(Haynes was elected property assessor in August 2016 and Martin was named to replace him)Local mileage, meals and office$5,995, local mileage, meals and officeDiscretionaryNone› District 4: Warren MackeyLocal mileage, meals and office$18,597, local mileage, meals and officeDiscretionaryNone› District 5: Greg BeckLocal mileage, meals and office$10,586, local mileage, meals and officeDiscretionary$4,500: Mary Walker Historical & Educational Foundation$15,000: United Community Action Alliance$10,000: Independent Youth Services Foundation Inc.$1,000: Harrison Ruritan Foundation$5,500: Mary Walker Historical & Educational Foundation$1,500: A Night to Remember Inc.$2,500: Barger Academy playgrounds$150: Brainerd High School$6.07: Hillcrest AcademyTotal discretionary: $40,156.07› District 6: Joe GrahamLocal mileage, meals and officeNoneDiscretionary$30,962: Normal Park Lower School gymnasium› District 7: Sabrena SmedleyLocal mileage, meals and office$5,325 (includes $1,500 to Medal of Honor Hall of Valor Museum History Foundation, $1,000 to Harrison Ruritan Foundation)DiscretionaryNone› District 8: Tim BoydLocal mileage, meals and office$6,271, local mileage, meals and officeDiscretionary$5,000: Chattanooga Ballet Inc.$2,500: Barger Academy playground equipment$5,000: CSLA band instruments$5,000: CCA acoustic blanketsTotal discretionary: $17,500› District 9: Chester BankstonLocal mileage, meals and office$11,540 (Includes $1,500 to Medal of Honor Hall of Valor Museum History Foundation; $500 to Birchwood Area Society Improvement Committee; $750 to Junior Achievement of Chattanooga; $3,300 to Snow Hill Recreation League and $1,000 to Harrison Ruritan Foundation)DiscretionaryNone
Supporters don’t deny that, but say the money goes for good causes; one said the disgruntled opposition should just “shut up.”
Fairbanks was out of town on vacation and couldn’t be reached. Six commissioners told the Times Free Press he had not discussed the budget request with them before submitting it to the county finance department.