Earlier this month, Bill Lewis of Bedford County Solid Waste Authority repeated his challenge to members of county boards and committees to give up their compensation due to the tight economy and its effect on county budgets.
Commissioner J.D. "Bo" Wilson said that in some cases, state law requires that officials be paid. He recalled an occasion when he suggested commissioners forego a month's pay to contribute to a high school athletic team's out-of-state trip, since the commission had decided not to use budget funds to pay for it. Another commissioner slipped him a note saying it would be illegal not to pay the commission. Commissioners could always receive their check and then turn around and contribute it to the cause, but it had to be paid as required by state law.
School superintendent Ed Gray said that paying board and committee members helps encourage attendance and responsiility. He said he learned as a principal that coaches who got a supplement for coaching took their jobs more seriously than those who did it on a strictly volunteer basis.
The committee took no formal action on Lewis's request.
County finance director Robert Daniel told the Times-Gazette earlier this month that it would be hard to put a figure on how much would be saved if committees were not paid because some members who receive payment do not have a regular meeting schedule.
For example, beer board members are paid $50 per meeting and members of the board of zoning appeals get $25, but those groups only gather when necessary.
Daniel said that last year, a total of $14,725 was paid to members of the county's road board, election commission, beer board, planning commission, board of zoning appeals and Financial Management Committee.
In other action Tuesday night:
* The committee awarded a bid for jail inmate health care to the low bidder, Southern Health Partners. The county believes it can save $25,000 per year by outsourcing the care. It cost the county $225,000 to provide it in-house, while the Southern Health Partners bid was $200,000.
Daniel is still researching catastrophic insurance coverage for major medical costs involving inmates.
* After a complele re-bid of a roofing project at the Bedford Home Health building on Union Street, the committee awarded the contract to the low bidder, Two Rivers Roofing of Madison, for $19,770.
* The committee recommended approval of budget amendments for the school system, the county general fund, the special purpose fund and the debt service fund, although the committee wants more information about a $266,482 homeland security grant to be available by the time the full county commission votes on the amendments next month. No information about the grant, or how the money will be spent, was immediately available Tuesday night.
* During a discussion of monthly financial reports, some finance committee members questioned the need for Bedford County Emergency Medical Services to have a board of directors now that some of the bidding and purchasing decisions once made by the board have been taken over by the county finance department.
--Staff writer Brian Mosely contributed to this story.
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Hey folks, I've got an idea......while we are providing FREE individual health coverage for county inmates (who by definition have committed a crime), lets provide it for the folks that serve and protect us EVERYDAY from these same criminals.
Seems silly to provide insurance for a criminal and charge the police officer for the same coverage.....
People need to research this topic better. The inmates do not get free health care. They are charged the price and also charged for each day that they are in jail. This amount is paid in probation when they are released.
Maybe Watrace can provide the actual statistics of how many inmates are released that actually pay the fees charged while incarcerated and what happens if they don't pay. I wager that he/she would be very surprised at those statistics! Less than 50% actually pay!
I have yet another idea that could save the county probably much more than the 14,000 reported in this article. STOP providing health insurance benefits for these commissioners. I'm sure the $50.00 payment is not what they are in this for. The $50. will not make them or break them, but I bet the fringe benefits go a long way to boost their personal budgets. I would be anxious to see how many of the dinosaurs who have held on to these positions for so long would continue to do so if they weren't receiving these benefits. We might see a turnover in people representing the districts very quickly!
Of course that $14,000 dollar figure does not include the $400/month commissoners receive outside of any additional meeting attendance $ they get for committees they are appointed to. I would like for Bo Wilson to reference the Tennessee code annotated that states "it is against the law for commissioners not to be paid"
I have been unable to locate that! Okay Bedford County voters lets be recruiting candidates in all districts willing to run against the incumbants in their districts next time their seats are up to be filled. Cleaning house from top to bottom is the only way to move this county forward! The dinosaurs will not disappear until we voters retired them!