Personal minutes by David Sobota

Public Hearing on Amendments to the Dickson County Zoning Resolution

Public hearing was opened; no one came to speak. The commissioners voted and the change was approved by all present. Larkins and Gray were not present for this vote.

Quarterly Reports

The quarterly reports were approved by all present but Larkins and Gray were not present.

To endorse the findings and recommendations of the Tennessee County Services Association Jail Cost Study Committee.

This item was discussed in the working session. The commissioners voted on this resolution and it was approved by all present, only Gray was absent.

Approving the participation of Dickson County in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Project.

This was approved by all present

Appointments to Board of Zoning Appeals and Notaries

All commissioners present approved all.

Items not on the agenda

Discussion on the official insurance agent for the county

They discussed keeping the current insurance agent, called agent of record, verses going with another agent that claimed the county could save some money with him. It was determined that the current agent could get the same quotes so the commissioners voted to keep the current agent and rescind the change in “agent of record”. The vote for this one was; Yes: Wetterau, Smith, Spencer, Corlew, England, Reed, Tidwell, Loggins, No: Smith, Pass: Larkins.

Resolution to approve the acceptance of the “justice assistance grant” (was called local law enforcement lot grant).

This grant is for $13,357 and does not require any county matching funds. This was voted on and approved by all commissioners present.

Announcements:

Next working session will be June 6. The budget meetings will be held each Monday from now until the budget is approved.

The regular meeting was adjourned at this point and the commission went to budget discussions

The first item discussed was brought up by the county lawyer. He had gone to a seminar for county lawyers and learned that the county could be charging more for the use of the county courts. The county is allowed to charge enough to cover the cost of the general session’s judge. They currently are collecting approximately $30,000 less than they could. They discussed what fees could be raised and by how much. The commissioners asked for some more information so this item could be brought to a working session and ultimately voted on. If this is passed your “court costs” will likely go up.

The next items discussed were regarding the projected revenues for the county. These numbers will largely be used for the budget discussions to come. Stay tuned for more information on this subject. We are going to get a copy of the revenue projections and post them on the site.

Some notes about this discussion

Larkins stated that he would vote no to any tax increases while Loggins and Suggs firmly stated that revenues would have to be increased to meet the budget needs of the county. Mr. England wants to bring back the mineral severance tax. The final note was a comment by the Mayor who stated that the county’s bond rating has been downgraded. This will make it even more expensive for the county to borrow money.