Hamilton County commissioners will vote next week whether they may use their travel and expense allowance for office space in their districts.
It's one of several proposed changes in commissioners' travel and expense policies.
Another proposed change shifts cellphone expenses from individual travel allowances to the commission budget.
A third would pay travel expenses to state and national association meetings out of the commission budget rather than the travel allowance of the commission's representative to such meetings.
Chairman Sabrena Smedley said the revisions are aimed at clarifying commission travel and expense policies and don't change the commission's overall annual travel and expense budgets of $12,500 each.
However, moving the phone expense to the commission budget would give each commission an extra $100 a month - and $125 a month for the chairman and vice-chairman - as well as $6,000 for out-of-town travel for the commission's official representatives to state and national association meetings.
Commissioner Warren Mackey, who represents the commission on the boards of the Tennessee County Commissioners Association and the National Association of Counties, said he believes those expenses were paid out of the commission budget in past years and that the individual commissioner shouldn't have to pay out of his or her fund to represent the entire body.
Commissioner Greg Martin objected that no travel is "required" as part of the commission's duties and questioned why the change was being proposed at this time since the commission voted against doubling its travel allowance during the 2019 budget process.
This is a developing story.