During the Cheatham County Commission’s July 20 regular meeting held via Zoom web conference, members voted 7-5 in favor of rescinding an amended resolution from May which would have dedicated $425,000 from the County Highway/Public Works Fund to the new highway garage. The commission then also approved a measure to move the funds towards buying asphalt for county roads.
The approval came after a lengthy discussion about funding for the new garage.
Walter Weakley, District 4 Commissioner, said that while the Road and Bridge Committee had wanted to rescind the motion from May, but Weakley said he wanted to keep the funds for the new highway garage.
“That money is from the gas and diesel tax and anybody who comes through Cheatham County that buys a gallon of gas or diesel. But if we do not do this, the $425,000 is going to come out of the general fund that is funded by the taxpayers of Cheatham County. I have talked to people in my district and they feel like they’d rather see the gas tax used toward funding this building rather than coming out of the general fund,” he said.
Weakley brought up concerns about a possible tax increase to pay for the garage project, to which the County Mayor Kerry McCarver said they would have to figure out some way to fund the building’s construction, possibly out of the county general fund.
Robert Hester, Highway Superintendent, questioned whether sales tax collections would help fund the garage project, but McCarver said that sales tax collections go towards school operations or education debt.
