County set to borrow $6.5M for jail

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

AYERS

County commissioners voted on a resolution to borrow $6.5 million to fund the new jail at their regular meeting Monday night. The money will be obtained through a bond issue or loans from a public building authority.

Commissioner Michael Martin questioned the half million added to the $6 million figure originally mentioned. County Executive Carol Hamblen explained the county would only borrow what it needed to pay for construction and the acquisition of any property required for the expansion.

The original $6 million figure did not include money for the purchase of land and the extra half million gives the county some flexibility to cover those costs. The resolution to set the debt limit for the cost of the new jail at $6.5 million passed 23-1.

A second resolution on whether the jail construction loan would be set on a fixed or variable interest rate was then introduced. Joe Ayers of Cumberland Securities explained some of the pros and cons to both options and added a rate change could be made during the life of the loan with no cost to the county if interest rates for either type changed substantially.

The commissioners voted 21-3 to set the loan on a variable interest rate.

Also on the docket was a resolution intended to communicate the Warren County Commission’s support of a state income tax to the Tennessee General Assembly. The resolution, introduced by Commissioner Swanson Bennett, also included a section that asked the General Assembly to amend current Tennessee Sales Tax Law to exempt food, clothing, and non-prescription drugs.

Citing the state’s current budget woes and how they could eventually affect county governments, Bennett touted a state income tax as the most viable solution. Well aware of the unpopularity of such a tax, he concluded local governments would have to show their support if the tax were to have any chance of passing at the state level.

“How can we expect them to support a state income tax if we don’t have the guts to stand behind it,” Bennett said at one point during the rather heated debate the resolution generated.

In spite of Bennett’s request, the resolution was defeated, 14-10.

Resolutions to delete Shiloh Cemetery Road from the county road system, to change the name of Mt. Creek Bridge to Betty Ann Grissom Hill Bridge, and to adopt an official Warren County road map all passed unanimously.