Merrol's Murky Memory

Apparently, County Commissioner Merrol Hyde has forgotten that under his leadership, Sumner County routinely dipped into reserve funds to balance the budget. He's forgotten that his leadership of the County Commission coincided with budgets that got Sumner County to a point where without an infusion of funds, we'd be bankrupt by July 2015.

He told the Hendersonville Star News on November 7th:

“My problem is this, the old commission did a good job of spending the money they had wisely. We estimated the budget conservatively. We weren’t dipping into reserves. We had plenty of money coming in the next year.”

It seems Hyde has forgotten that back in 2012, the County Commission bailed out its badly mismanaged Insurance Trust to the tune of $3 million. The Commission authorized another $4 million plus in special project spending. All from reserve funds.

Yes, reserve funds.

Which Hyde said his County Commission didn't need to balance the budget.

Except that they did. Because the only way the budget was balanced otherwise was to not properly fund the Insurance Trust so that the County's contributions were artificially low.

In fact, $3 million new dollars are being pumped into the Insurance Trust this year. Because the "old Commission" failed to manage it properly.

Hyde is counting on the public having a short memory. But the evidence is clear: Hyde's leadership was about budgets out of balance and reserve funds paying for bailouts.

Oh, and the last time taxes went up in Sumner County? Merrol Hyde was Director of Schools (and on the County Commission) and presented a budget that was out of balance. His proposed solution? A tax increase.


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County Commission May Stop Funding Scholarships

Despite a $10 million balance that could theoretically fund the Educate and Grow Scholarship program at Vol State for nearly 20 more years, the County Commission is considering a proposal that would significantly reduce or possibly eliminate the program.

Over 5 years, the program has cost Sumner County roughly $500,000 and helped students meet tuition costs at Vol State.

Now, the program appears to be in jeopardy as Commissioners seem unwilling to fund its continuation.

Despite their cautious approach regarding the use of reserve funds for this purpose, Commissioners had no trouble using the same Hospital Fund to bailout the mismanaged county insurance trust.