Budget committee meets Thursday

July 8, 2026 by Ben Pounds

The Anderson County Budget Committee will meet on Thursday, July 9, at 4 p.m. in Room 312 of the county courthouse in Clinton to discuss its budget for next year.

Finance Director Robert Holbrook said if all goes well, he hopes the committee will finalize the budget and present it to the County Commission at its regular meeting on July 20. The budget by law will be due in August.

Finance director Robert Holbrook has presented a draft budget. The committee met on June 16 to discuss that draft but has yet to approve it.

At that meeting, Sheriff Russell Barker proposed a further raise than what the budget included for the Sheriff’s Office, totaling at least 15%.

But the committee tabled voting on that proposal so it could discuss ways to cut elsewhere to pay for it. The proposed budget even without that raise had a total deficit of $3,837,141.

“It’s about making sure we’re competitive in the market of law enforcement,” Barker said at the meeting.

“Maybe there’s some savings,” said Commissioner Chad McNabb at the June 9 meeting, regarding ways to pay for the raise. “Maybe there’s not.”

“When we get employee raises, it’s recurring expenses,” said Holbrook. “You can’t keep giving raises and not producing revenue.”







Submitted

Clinch River Quilts of Valor quilters (from left) Becky Massengale, Rosalyn Gardner, and Gwen Cole prepare quilts for presentation at June’s vetertans breakfast. With them is June’s breakfast sponsor, Ray Varner of Ray Varner Ford.