By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
In a special April meeting the Grayson City Council voted to pass a budget memorandum. The memorandum would require the Grayson Tourism Commission to follow guidelines already in place, but formalized those requests.
“The tourism commission will submit to us what is known as a Request for Funding,” Grayson Mayor Troy Combs explained to the council.
“They have to pass an annual budget, but they have not passed their annual budget yet,” Combs continued. “The city council budget you passed expires on July 1, so if they do not pass a budget before then, we cannot pass our budget. And if we go past the time we normally approve a budget, we are in a continuation budget. There are no strict deadline times. But we can set deadlines for them.”
Combs said the memorandum he prepared and provided to council members was designed to make the tourism commission aware of the council’s objectives. One objective was the desire to see a four-year plan from the commission to be provided within six months. Another objective was that the commission submit budget records that reflect all debts and revenue generated.
Combs said the memorandum is designed to facilitate the flow of information in a more timely manner so that the city council can effectively vote on whether or not to approve the tourism commission’s budget. Council member Jennifer McGlone said in the meeting that more transparency is needed to protect all parties involved. Council member Dustin Burchett said that information, including answering questions and clarifying what was presented, would help the council to not be “working in the dark.”
The council voted unanimously to approve the memorandum, and Combs said that he would make sure each member of the tourism commission was presented with a copy of the memorandum before the commission’s next scheduled meeting.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
