Budget Committee to request independent financial advisor
By Joel Davisjoeld@thedailytimes.com
Originally published: February 09. 2010 3:01AM
Last modified: February 08. 2010 9:40PM
The Blount County Budget Committee is recommending that the county issue a request for proposals for independent financial advisors. The County Commission wants to seek outside help to analyze the county's debt structure.
Blount County currently has $93 million in bonds associated with interest rate swaps. It has about $63 million in fixed rate bonds and $55 million in variable rate bonds.
In order to clear up concerns and get a final judgment on the soundness of the debt policies, the County Commission voted in November to hire an independent expert to evaluate the structure of the county debt.
Meeting Monday, the Budget Committee also:
Recommended formal approval of $1 million in indigent legal aid Monday.
Voted against transferring $40,669 within the Election Commission budget to convert a temporary position to a permanent one.
Recommended against spending an additional $3,000 to help fund a Homeless Management Information System that is being used by local nonprofits to coordinate services to the county's homeless population.
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