CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Bradley County government's purchase freeze is over.
On Sept. 22, County Mayor D. Gary Davis asked department heads and elected officials who operate through the county's general fund to delay purchases, except for emergencies, until after Jan. 1.
But there still was year-end concern among county officials that property tax payments were lagging behind their usual pace. So on Sept. 23, Mr. Davis notified the County Finance Committee that the county might have to exercise the tax anticipation loan section of the budget resolution if revenues continued to come in slowly.
County Finance Director Lynn Burns reported to the County Commission Monday night that the county did not have to borrow against tax anticipation revenue, however.
"Due to the cooperation of the department heads and elected officials in the general fund and the great cooperation with the trustee's office in helping us monitor cash flows on almost a daily basis, we did not have to borrow this year," Ms. Burns said.
"Also, anticipating that revenues will continue to come in in January, as they did in December, we are not renewing the purchase order freeze," Ms. Burns said.
Mr. Davis said in a Tuesday news release that "a spending freeze is sometimes necessary due to the delay in property tax collections. County property tax bills are mailed in early October. Most property owners do not pay their bills until January or February."
Mr. Davis thanked county government department heads and elected officials for their cooperation.
"The reduced spending in November and December helped ensure that the county's general fund remained solvent," he said.