State okays county’s budget with warning

By Eddie West

Staff Writer

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has okayed the county’s 2024-2025 fiscal year budget but not without addressing an area of concern.

Each year after approval, counties are required to forward current fiscal year budgets to the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office for review.

In return, the state comptroller’s office responds to county officials with a letter following its review.

In this year’s letter to the county, the comptroller’s office noted “projected revenues and other available funds as sufficient to meet anticipated expenditures” for the county’s 2024-2025 fiscal year budget.

However, as a notation, officials with the state comptroller’s office issued remarks concerning the school system’s use of its fund balance to offset added expenditures.

In the letter to the county presented to county commissioners at their October meeting, the comptroller’s office pointed out the “General Purpose School Fund is budgeted to use $5,533,743 of its fund balance and that $3,053,743 is being used for recurring expenditure”.

Officials with the comptroller’s office went on to explain “the use of fund balance does not make the (school) fund unstable for fiscal year 2025, but we bring this to the attention of the county commission to prevent future financial instability”.

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