Smith County Mayor Jeff Mason will be submitting a written version of his mayor’s report from each county commission meeting beginning this month. You can follow Mayor Mason on Facebook and see reports on the Smith County Government’s website at https://smithcotn.com. You may also view the full February Commission meeting here.
Opening Remarks
First, I want to send a ‘thank you’ to School Director Barry Smith and his maintenance staff at the Board of Education. We had a heating issue and a small natural gas leak in the elections office. We reached out to our normal vendor and they could not get to us at the time. I knew Director Smith had hired an HVAC pers recently. I called Mr. Smith and he never hesitated in sending his crew to us. A government works much better when all departments share and help each other when possible. This was a great example of that. Thank you, Director Smith!
Secondly, I want to send a thank you out to EMS Director Jeff Crockett. The state performed our EMS audit last week. There were no findings with our EMS department. Thank you, Director Crockett, and your team, for the service they provide to our citizens.
Governors One Time Money for County Governments
Smith County received $826,000 in one time money from the state of Tennessee. We worked with Departments to meet needs that were not funded in the past due to budget and hierarchical restraints.
Tonight, we will move eleven thousand dollars over to our EMR program. The EMR program is a group of volunteers that respond when they can to begin administering care until an EMS crew arrives. They do not receive any county funding currently. The money approved tonight will go to buy equipment and supplies that may last for many years. Recently this program was able to save a gentleman’s life by administering care before the ambulance arrived.
Sale of the Baker Property
We are currently working on options for the Baker Property. We will include Gordonsville Mayor John Potts and his council to find a solution that works best for Smith County and Gordonsville.
County Employee Salary Study
As directed by the Budget and Finance Committee last year, we are currently working to get a salary study complete. The firm tasked with completing this study, Thompson and Associates, is still gathering information and data. Once complete we will present findings to the county commission.
Budget Season
Budget request sheets are currently being worked on by elected officials and department heads. Budget and Finance hearings will begin in late March to early April. If collections maintain their current level, we should reach our sufficient operating capital goals this year. We will have made our goal in two years instead of the three planned. This combined with not adding to our debt, restructuring our debt and paying off debt was my goal. The direction I will advise the county commission will be to reduce property tax rates this year. It is the right thing to do. We asked for a heavy lift from all of Smith County in 2019 and will have soon fixed our issues. We need to reduce that ask from all of us. Government needs to do what it does and do it efficiently and effectively. Government services cost what they cost but we should only ask for what is needed to operate year to year and maintain funds for improvements.
Census Data
Census data will be sent out in the spring. We will start working on redistricting in the summer with it being completed by year end.
Actions Taken During the January Commission Meeting
County commission passed a resolution asking the state legislature to pass a private act that will allow Smith County to implement a hospitality tax. This will only be for areas outside the cities in the county. Should this pass the revenue will be used for Public Safety and Tourism. These fees will be paid by people staying in our county. It will not generate a ton of revenue at first but hopefully it will generate enough to reduce a portion of the property tax rate.
Tonight, we recognized Jerry Wilmore for his retirement and service to the Smith County Agriculture economy. Jerry worked with Farm Services for many years and helped a lot of Smith County farmers. Thank you, Jerry Wilmore!
Chris Nixon was appointed by the commission to fill the resigned seat of Shannon Green in District 1. We had four worthy candidates express interest in this seat.
Thank you for allowing me to be Mayor of the greatest county in the world!
God Bless Smith County and God Bless the United States of America
Jeff Mason
