No tax hike in county funding

Bedford County will hold the line on county property tax rates, and employee salaries, this year, according to the budgets recommended Tuesday night by the Financial Management Committee.

The budgets will now go to Bedford County Board of Commissioners for approval. The commission will vote on the budgets during a special meeting at 6 p.m. June 30, which -- if everything goes as planned ­-- would be the first time in many years that the county actually had its new budget in place before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.

The new budgets assume that the county's sales tax revenue will be 5 percent less in the coming fiscal year. There will be no salary increases, except where required by labor contract (teachers) or state law (judges). Each county employee will get the same $400 bonus that was given in the current fiscal year budget.

Fire protection funding

The budget also assumes that the paid employees of Volunteer Fire Services Inc., currently an independent non-profit agency, will become employees of the county, as part of a revived Bedford County Fire Department. The fire department will, in terms of budget, be included under the Emergency Management Agency. Administratively, however, EMA director Scott Johnson and fire chief Mark Thomas will be equals, each reporting directly to County Mayor Eugene Ray.

The change in fire department structure is being made to conform with state law. VFSI was spun off into an independent agency by the county in the early 1990s after county taxpayers from within Shelbyville claimed it was a violation of state law for them to be taxed for a fire department that primarily operated outside city limits. The county continued to fund VFSI's operating budget, using rural-derived revenues such as sales tax from businesses outside city limits.

Those revenues are no longer enough to fund VFSI, and so the county had to find another funding mechanism that would still comply with state law. Funding fire protection as part of emergency management qualifies.

The county will still contribute $17,000 each to the operation of the county's six volunteer departments. There was some discussion Tuesday night about the best way to handle these contributions. Should the county write a separate check for each volunteer department? Or should the county give the money to VFSI, which will remain in existence as the coordinating body for volunteer fire protection, and let it pass the money on to the volunteer stations?

Nursing home

Another issue expected to be considered at the June 30 meeting is whether or not the county should lease Bedford County Nursing Home to Johnson City-based Care Centers Management Consulting. County Finance Director Robert Daniel said that if the lease of BCNH is not approved, he plans to take over accounting functions for the nursing home by July 31.

Daniel said the nursing home's current statements seem to indicate that its financial status has improved and, if a lease is approved, the county won't be left holding any major liabilities from its previous operations.

Commissioner Linda Yockey said she plans to make a site visit Monday to a Care Centers Management Consulting-owned nursing home in Cheatham County.

Bids

* Last month, the committee deferred action on awarding a bid on towing and storage of vehicles seized by law enforcement in criminal cases. The low bidder, Wright's Wrecker Service, had bid only $1 per vehicle, expecting to make its money from any vehicle owners who are eventually allowed to reclaim their property. But another bidder, Mike's Towing and Recovery, had claimed the Wright bid to be illegal, saying that offering services to the county at below cost was prohibited by state law.

County attorney John T. Bobo, in a memo to the committee, opined that Wright's $1 bid was indeed legal, and the committee voted Tuesday night to accept it.

* The county awarded a bid for banking services to FirstBank. Daniel said the bid process was quite complex, with a number of factors to be considered, but that FirstBank had the best overall proposal.

* The committee deferred action on accepting a bid for a re-roof of the old doctor's building on Union Street, across from the old Bedford County Medical Center. The building is currently occupied by Bedford Home Health. Daniel said the commission should wait to see what happens with the budget before deciding which bid to accept.

If you go

Bedford County Board of Commissioners will hold a special called meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor courtroom at the county courthouse. The commission will consider the 2009-10 budget, any last-minute amendments to the current 2008-09 budget, and a proposal to lease Bedford County Nursing Home to a subsidiary of Care Centers Management Consulting from Johnson City.