Pay raise for commissioners fails – Increase falls short by one vote

Another attempt to double the monthly salary for county commissioners failed again Monday night at the Commission meeting.
The proposed rules change would increase the commissioners' salaries from $200 to $400 per month, but the resolution failed by one vote.
A two-thirds majority, or 17 votes, is required to pass a salary increase. Sixteen commissioners voted for the salary increase, five against and four abstained.
Among the issues that have delayed the passage of the salary increase is a private act of the state Legislature that ties salary of the Road Commission chair, who is by law the county mayor, to the salary of the commissioners. Increasing the commissioners' pay to $400 would increase County Mayor Robert Dedman's pay for sitting as Road Commission chair to $1,200 per month.
District 13 Commissioner Robert Lannom tried to persuade the Commission to defer the vote, citing a need to clear up the issue.
"The solution would be to ask our next County Commission to ask the legislature to rescind the private act," Lannom said.
Lannom's motion to defer the vote failed.
District 1 Commissioner Wendell Marlowe said the current commissioners should settle the issue.
"We have already approved a budget that has included this amount of money in it," Marlowe said. "These 25 commissioners ought to be the ones to vote for this."
Marlowe added in the past he had voted against salary increases for commissioners because of the need to increase wages of other county employees. With most county employees receiving a 6-percent raise, Marlowe said he was now comfortable passing a raise for commissioners. But, the Commission once again failed to pass the pay raise.
Prior to dealing with the pay raises, the Commission approved the purchase of Nave Funeral Home, the property adjacent to the Wilson County Courthouse.
The Commission approved $440,000 for the purchase of the property with an additional $35,000 to cover additional costs such as closing, a survey and an environmental study.
The original proposal from the Financial Management Committee did not include a cap on the additional costs, but at the urging of District 21 Commissioner Eugene Murray an amendment was added capping the additional costs at $35,000.
The county intends to use the building to accommodate its pressing storage needs.
Staff Writer Nick Fowler can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 15 or by e-mail at nick.fowler@lebanondemocrat.com.