MOVING FORWARD:

A RECAP OF THE NOVEMBER 25 COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING

A majority of County Commissioners agreed last Tuesday to increase a General Sessions court fee by $10 to help support the salary of our General Sessions Judge.

The increase will affect those convicted of crimes in General Sessions Court and was suggested by Donna Barrett of the Barrett Group, who we hired to identify opportunities for revenue that are being overlooked. She has found annual, re-occurring revenue totaling $218,377, so far, equal to the amount that two pennies of our property tax rate produce each year.

Commissioners were asked in March and July this year to consider the court fee increase, but the measure failed to receive the required 2/3 majority vote. I’m happy to see it passed in the November session, so our general fund (primarily made up of property tax revenues) won’t supply the $30,000 it’s expected to produce every year.

Three appointments to the E-911 board were also approved at the Commission’s November session: Lawrenceburg Chief of Police Terry Beecham, Emergency Management Director Shelton Barnett, and banker Ben Gobble. Barnett and Gobble are new to the Board; Beecham’s was a reappointment. Others serving on the nine-member board are Teresa Purcell, Jay Moore, Tyler McDow, Brad Nielsen, Stephen Ellis, and John Myers.

I am grateful for residents and officials who are willing to give their time to serve on boards like this one. There is no more vital service in our community than E-911, which provides dispatch services for fire, sheriff, ambulance, and police departments. The committee is made up of local experts from our first responder services and the world of budgets, finance, and human resources, because all these skills are needed to advise E-911 operations.

Commissioners also approved $12,000 to assist four households that are connecting to Summertown Utility District’s North Brace water line. Several years ago, the Commission agreed to contribute $3,000 toward the cost of materials when a household connects to water service from a rural utility district. I’m happy Lawrence County can help residents connect to safe, reliable water supplies.

If you value ensuring our county services are supported responsibly, I want to share an important update from this month’s County Commission meeting. In accordance with state accounting requirements, the Commission approved the routine write-off of $211,804 in solid waste fees from 2019 that are now six years old. This is a standard step required each year to keep our financial records accurate and compliant.

Most of these uncollected fees were from residential accounts, with only about 1.2% coming from commercial users. Altogether, this reflected 3,874 household accounts from that year.

The encouraging news is that our collection rate continues to strengthen. Since I took office, collections have increased from 73% to 80%, and we expect continued improvement as we take a more proactive, fair, and consistent approach to outstanding accounts. To support that effort, the threshold for initiating suits on long-term unpaid balances—both residential and commercial—has been adjusted from $500 to $200, which typically represents about two years of nonpayment.

Our goal is simple: to keep services strong, fair, and sustainable for everyone in Lawrence County. Thank you for doing your part to help us move forward together.