Sullivan County Mayor on school budget fight: County given ‘power of the purse’ by state constitution
Sullivan County Mayor Richard Venable did not mince words Friday, accusing the county’s Board of Education of playing political games with taxpayers and their own employees while threatening a shutdown of the school system in an issued statement from his office.
Director of School David Cox said the system is working with a budget that is $800,000 short and was informed by the Comptroller’s Office of not meeting the required maintenance of effort that Cox says could cost schools to lose $4 million in state revenue payments.
Venable stated the ‘power of the purse’ belongs to the County Commission and that the school system has funding and reserves to meet mandates. A special-called session of the Commission is scheduled for Wednesday.
VENABLE’S STATEMENT:
“It is with the deepest of regret today that we find the Sullivan County Board of Education playing political games with Sullivan County taxpayers and even their own employees by continuing to pursue a political fight over a piece of paper using an arbitrary budget projection.
“The Sullivan County Commission acted responsibly and constitutionally in fully funding the school budget at $86 million dollars based on a projected state funding number that follows historical precedent.
“Seeking a blank check from the taxpayers of Sullivan County, the Board of Education picked its own lower BEP projection to insert in its current budget and then cried to the state that the Sullivan County Commission had not fully funded their budget request.
“The Constitution of the State of Tennessee gives the power of the purse to the Sullivan County Commission, not the Board of Education, and we will continue to work through these details with the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury and the Board of Education.
“The bottom line for parents and students and employees is this. The School Department has all the funding and reserves it needs to fulfill its mandate to educate our young people. In the meantime Sullivan County government is committed to work together with a cooperative School Board to resolve this Constitutional issue.”
