Benton County

SENATE BILL 2731
By Stevens

HOUSE BILL 2669
By Reedy
HB2669
016988
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AN ACT to amend Chapter 541 of the Private Acts of 1939; as
amended and rewritten by Chapter 32 of the Private Acts
of 1999; and any other acts amendatory thereto, relative
to Benton County.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Chapter 541 of the Private Acts of 1939, as amended and rewritten by
Chapter 32 of the Private Acts of 1999, and any other acts amendatory thereto, is amended by
deleting the chapter and substituting:
Section 1. The purpose of this Act is to provide Benton County with a modern
and efficient system for the management of County finances, including, but not limited
to, budgeting, investment oversight, debt management, and cash management
oversight.
Section 2.
The following definitions apply to the terms used in this Act:
(1) The term "budget" shall mean the appropriation of money
appropriated by the County Legislative Body for each department or
activity of Benton County for the period shown by the adoption of the
budget by the County Legislative Body and any appropriation authorized
by statute.
(2) The term "official of the county" shall mean any official
authorized by the County Legislative Body or the statutes of the State of
Tennessee to draw from the Trustee and expend money of Benton
County.

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(3) The term "budget committee" shall mean a committee of five
(5) members appointed by the County Legislative Body of Benton County
as hereinafter provided.
(4) The term "expenditure" or "expend" shall mean the act of
committing Benton County to expend monies then and there in the Office
of the County Trustee or to come into the office of the County Trustee of
Benton County.
(5) The term "obligation" shall mean a legal commitment that will
result in a future payment by Benton County.
(6) The term "County Legislative Body" shall mean the County
Legislative Body of Benton County, Tennessee.
Section 3. The Budget Committee shall consist of not more than five (5)
members of the County Legislative Body, who shall be appointed by the Chairman and
confirmed by the County Legislative Body. The Budget Committee is to receive as
compensation for their services in the preparation and supervision of the making of the
budget a per diem fee as set by the County Legislative Body each fiscal year. The
Budget Committee shall have the power and authority to employ such help and
assistance as may be necessary to properly prepare and work out the budget and to do
the matters in connection with said work and in preparation of said budget, as required
by this Act, and to fix the wages or pay for the services of such help and assistance as
may be employed for that purpose and approved by the County Legislative Body.
Section 4. Immediately after the second Monday of March, the Budget
Committee of Benton County shall begin the preparation of a budget, containing a
complete plan, itemized and classified according to function and activity of all proposed
expenditures and all estimated revenues by sources, including borrowings by or for the
county, for the ensuing appropriation year, which shall begin on the first day of July of
each year, or at such other date as may be provided for by law, for the beginning of the

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appropriation year. Opposite each item of proposed expenditure, the budget shall show
in separate parallel columns the amount appropriated for the preceding appropriation
year, the amount expended during that year, the amount appropriated for the current
appropriation year, and increases and decreases in the proposed expenditures for the
ensuing year as compared with the appropriation for the current year. This budget shall
be accompanied by a statement of the contemplated revenues, including borrowings, of
Benton County for the ensuing appropriation year; and an itemized and complete
financial balance sheet of each fund account of Benton County, at the close of the last
preceding appropriation year.
Section 5. A brief synopsis of the budget, as prepared by or under the
supervision of said Budget Committee, shall be posted at one (1) or more public places
in said county, including the bulletin board at the courthouse door, and a copy thereof
shall be furnished to each County Legislative Body member and notice given of one (1)
or more public hearings, at least five (5) days prior to the date of such hearing, at which
citizens of said county shall have the right to attend and state their views thereon. The
Budget Committee shall submit said budget with current notes in the margin to the
County Legislative Body at such time as will allow the County Legislative Body to adopt
the budget at or prior to the July meeting with recommendation for adoption of said
budget as may be agreed upon by the committee. However, it shall not be mandatory
upon the County Legislative Body to adopt the budget recommended by the Budget
Committee, but if said budget is not adopted, it will be sent back to the Budget
Committee up to two (2) times, and the Budget Committee will review and make
recommendations back to the County Legislative Body within five (5) days. If the budget
fails the third time, the County Legislative Body shall prepare and adopt a budget of its
own, using the budget estimate as a basis, but appropriating such sums as the County
Legislative Body may deem proper for the expenses listed under subdivision (2) of
Section 6 of this Act, whether greater or less than the budget estimate, but no

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appropriation recommended by the budget estimate under subdivisions (1) and (3) of
Section 6 of this Act shall be reduced by the County Legislative Body, and the taxes
levied for such appropriations may be over and above all other taxes authorized or
limited by law, and the County Legislative Body shall, by appropriate order, adopt and
enter upon the minutes of the County Legislative Body a budget covering all
expenditures for the county for the next appropriation year, itemized and classified as
required by Sections 5 and 6 of this Act. The County Legislative Body can however
increase OR reduce any line item as long as they follow the state rules concerning the
"Maintenance of effort" expenditures, and pay schedules set by the state. It shall be
mandatory upon the County Legislative Body to adopt a resolution or fix a tax rate,
levying upon all property subject to taxation within the county, and basing such levy
upon the current tax collection experience of the preceding fiscal year, such rate of tax
as may be required to produce the sum necessary to balance the budget upon an
available fund balance. In order that the current tax levy shall be truly based upon the
current tax collection experience of the preceding year, such current tax levy shall be
determined by dividing the sum necessary to be raised in order to balance the budget,
by a percentage which does not exceed the percentage obtained by dividing the amount
of current taxes collected in cash in the preceding fiscal year by the amount of the taxes
levied and payable in such preceding fiscal year. The budget should be approved on or
before July 1, if possible. If not, the State Comptroller's Office may grant an extension
after a showing of extraordinary circumstances, if it goes beyond August 31.
Section 6.
The sum necessary to balance the budget as provided in Section 5 of this
Act, shall be ascertained by adding the appropriation included in said budget,
which shall be as follows:
(1) The full amount required for interest on the indebtedness of
the county and for sinking funds for the retirement of the bonded

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indebtedness of the county as it matures in an orderly and systematic
financial manner, and for the principal payment of serial bonds maturing
during the fiscal year.
(2) The amount of any cash deficit, being the sum of all
outstanding and unpaid bills or other lawful obligations and all amounts
payable to all special funds of the county at the close of the last preceding
fiscal year incurred for debt or other lawful charges in connection with the
operation of the county to the extent that such sums exceed the available
fund balance and/or cash on hand or on deposit to the credit of the
general funds of the county in relation to expenditures for strictly county
general expenses, and the school, highway department and other funds,
for those purposes, and by deducting them from, the estimate of the cash
receipts to be available during the current year, from the taxes and
miscellaneous revenue. Departments/offices can only spend funds that
have been legally obligated.
(3) The Budget Committee of Benton County shall require the
heads or other responsible representatives of all departments, divisions,
boards, agencies, or offices of said county, to furnish such information as
may be deemed advisable and, in such form, as may be required in
relation to their respective affairs and activities. All departments shall
provide the budget committee the number of authorized positions in their
budget information, and this information shall be included in the final
budget to the County Legislative Body.
(4) It shall be the duty of the Benton County School Board and
County Director of Schools of Benton County, to prepare and file with the
Budget Committee, an itemized statement or budget, as specified in
Section 4 of this Act, and figured and ascertained in accordance with the

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provisions of Sections 5 and 6 of this Act, of the funds which said board
and Director of Schools estimate will be necessary for the maintenance
and operation of the schools and expenses incident thereto for the year
commencing the first day of July following the filing of such statement or
budget, so that said school budget may be presented to the County
Legislative Body by the Budget Committee along with the regular county
budget.
Section 7. The County Legislative Body shall cause to be made out immediately
preceding the July meeting or when budget is passed by said County Legislative Body in
every year hereafter a statement showing the aggregate amount of the receipts and
itemized disbursements of the twelve (12) month period ending on June 30. A copy of
such statement shall be posted on the bulletin board at the courthouse door of said
county.
Section 8. It shall be the duty of the County Mayor to install and maintain or to
cause to be installed and maintained a set of accounts as prescribed by the County
Legislative Body and this Act, classified according to functions and activities, which will
at all times reveal the amount appropriated, the amount expended to date chargeable
against such appropriations and the unexpended balance of such appropriations.
Furthermore, it shall be the duty of every official of the county, before making an
expenditure for any purpose, whether it be for personal services, contracted services,
materials and supplies, equipment, bounties and claims, pensions and relief
contributions, or debt service, to issue or cause to be issued to the County Mayor's office
a requisition, and to receive from the County Mayor's office a purchase order, which
among other things, shall show the unexpended balance of the appropriation against
which such purchase order or requisition has been charged.
Section 9. If any official of Benton County who has the power, right, or authority
to expend county funds from the County Trustee or funds coming into the County

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Trustee from the State of Tennessee expends any sum in excess of the monies or funds
actually in the County Trustee to the credit of the official's department of the county
government or in excess of the budget adopted by the County Legislative Body covering
that certain period of time as shown by the budget, such county official making any
overdrafts of the County Trustee or commitment in excess of the amount appropriated
for the specific purpose for which the expenditure was made by the County Legislative
Body of Benton County, shall be personally liable, together with the sureties of his official
bonds, to Benton County for such overdraft, and/ or the payee of any such warrant for
the full amount of such overdraft or over-expenditure, and the county and/or payee of
any such warrants, shall have a cause of action of debt to recover from such official or
officials and their bondsmen, the amount of the overdraft or over-expenditure, with
interest from the date of issuance of such warrants.
Section 10. Appropriations for which no provision was made in the budget as
adopted, shall be made only from any unassigned fund balance resulting from an
unappropriated balance of the tax rate, subject to approval by a two-thirds (2/3) majority
vote of the County Legislative Body.
Section 11. Investing Idle County funds. The County Legislative Body shall
establish and approve policies and procedures for investing idle cash funds in various
investments in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 5-8-301.
Section 12. The County Legislative Body, Budget Committee, or other officials,
employees, or members of the Board of education or Highway Department, including
spouses, shall not be financially interested or have any personal beneficial interest,
either directly or indirectly, in the purchase of any supplies, materials, equipment or
property for the county.
Section 13. Any official or employee under the employment of Benton County
who is found to be in violation of this Act or fails to conform to the provisions of this Act
commits official misconduct and is subject to removal from office or position. Under

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Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-47-103, the county attorney is directed to
investigate any complaint alleging that a county officer within their jurisdiction is guilty of
any of the acts constituting official misconduct as set forth in Tennessee Code
Annotated, Section 8-47-101, and upon determination of reasonable cause, to institute a
proceeding in the appropriate court to oust such official.
Section 14. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or
applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application, and to that end, the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.
Section 15. Modification of Dates. The deadline dates as set forth in this Act
may be necessary to update due to law changes and certain emergencies recognized by
the State of Tennessee. When these events occur within the county, the County
Legislative Body shall approve the changed date on a temporary basis and report the
amended dates.
Section 16. Supersedes other Acts. Upon this Act becoming effective in Benton
County, this Act shall supersede the provisions of any Private Act in conflict with this Act
in Benton County, including any private acts, or amendments thereto, adopted by the
County Legislative Body of Benton County before or after the date this Act becomes
effective in Benton County.
SECTION 2. This act shall have no effect unless it is approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote
of the legislative body of Benton County. Its approval or nonapproval shall be proclaimed by the
presiding officer of the legislative body and certified to the secretary of state.
SECTION 3. For the purpose of approving or rejecting the provisions of this act, it shall
be effective upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, it shall
become effective as provided in SECTION 2.