News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The State Comptroller’s Office recommends that Overton County adopts a centralized budget system but County Executive Ben Danner said it is not a priority right now.
“Some counties the Highway Department just purchases on their own, the county purchases on their own and then the schools do,” Danner said. “But here, the Highway Department and county are both coming through this office, so we have a lot more oversight than most counties. I don’t know that it would help us that much more here.”
Danner said creating the system would be a large undertaking, and the county has other projects to tackle. Danner said a centralized budget department would mean finding the an appropriate office area.
“I know some counties that it works well,” Danner said. “I know some counties that don’t. It’s a big undertaking to start that. The school and the highway department and the county all need to be together.”
Danner said highway and county purchases all come through the county executive’s office and require a final signature. However, school system purchases within budget do not go to Danner’s office.
“The oversight is basically when the county court passes the budget,” Danner said. “When the county court passes the budget for the schools, as long as they stay in each line item, there’s really no oversight on that, but when they want to take money from one fund and out it to another one that’s when the county commission comes in.”
Danner said the county education committee also meets with the school system every three months to review quarterly reports.
Danner said the Comptroller’s Office suggests the centralized system yearly regardless of the number of findings. According to the Comptroller’s Office, a centralized financial department oversees all of the county, highway and school funds and could significantly improve accountability.
