Anderson commissioners reject budget change for part-time analyst hired by mayor

Note: This story was updated at 7:15 p.m.

CLINTON—Some Anderson County commissioners weren’t satisfied with the results they’ve seen—or haven’t seen—from a part-time fiscal analyst hired by the county mayor in December.

Some also weren’t happy about the amount paid to the analyst, Tom Shope, and a request to approve a budget change to pay him after the money has already been spent.

So, during a Monday meeting, they declined to transfer $22,740 from one budget code to another to allow Chris Phillips, Anderson County account and budgets director, to pay Shope from a part-time budget code.

Phillips said the county commission’s decision on Monday means his budget will be overspent in its part-time code, but his overall budget will not be overspent. The money is in his budget, but just not in the right place, Phillips said.

“This doesn’t direct me or make me stop paying him,” Phillips said.

A few commissioners raised questions about paying the equivalent of about $40,000 to a part-time worker, particularly when a county jail expansion could require hiring up to 34 new jailers. Shope earns $30 per hour and works 24 hours per week.

“This is a lot of money, Chris, to approve this when employees are not getting raises,” said Robin Biloski, Anderson County Commission vice chair.

She said she has never met Shope and never received a report that she requested. She said Shope’s input could have been particularly valuable as county officials wrestle with how to resolve a request from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department for more money, including for extra jailers at the expanded jail.

“I just haven’t seen the savings,” Biloski said.

Phillips said Shope, who is not a department head, is not responsible for reporting to the county commission.

Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski said the money paid to Shope could be used to pay for an extra jailer. He proposed eliminating Shope’s position.

“It doesn’t serve any purpose,” Iwanski said. “We haven’t seen any results.”

But at least one other commissioner, Rick Meredith, said Phillips and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank have the prerogative to hire employees.

Several commissioners said they disagreed with a controversial report that Shope helped put together on the county law director’s department.

“I would not trust any report that this person made,” Anderson County Commissioner Steve Mead said. He said Shope never spoke to the law director while preparing the report.

Anderson County Commissioner Jerry Creasey said the report was well-done, but he didn’t agree with it.

“I have a problem funding that type of report,” Creasey said.

They were referring to a report that Frank announced earlier this month. Compiled by the county Budget Office, it showed that Anderson County has had a 1,630 percent increase in liability claims since 2003, and the county law director’s office budget has increased by 1,333 percent since 1998. Frank said the average cost per resident for the law director’s office is nearly twice that of other counties of comparable size, and she compared the $137,903 salary of the Anderson County law director to the $161,805 salary of the Knox County law director, pointing out that Knox County has more than five times as many residents.

Frank proposed reducing the law director’s budget by 16.5 percent. It would be a $52,069 decrease, and Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager said it would require him to lay off one of his two staff members.

But after that report was released, Yeager said some of Frank’s claims were flawed or false, including the suggestion that he has generated more liability claims. He called the allegations personal and political, and difficult to respond to.

On Monday, Frank told commissioners the information in the report came strictly from audit books. Any conclusions drawn from the numbers are hers, Frank said.

“I stand behind that report,” Frank said. “That area is overfunded.”

In an interview earlier Monday, Frank said she had taken off the table the proposal to cut the law director’s budget.

“I never intended it to be a distraction to the process,” she said.

Frank, who thought commissioners were, at least to some extent, challenging her political decisions Monday evening, said she has been pleased with Shope’s performance and intends to continue using him through June, the end of the fiscal year.

Frank announced she had hired Shope, a local businessman, in December. At the time, she said it was part of her campaign pledge, when she ran for office in the Aug. 2 election, to audit the county’s books to make operations more efficient.

On Monday, Frank said Shope has worked on projects that include an analysis of a fire in the Medford area—information that could help with grants—and helped Anderson County Emergency Medical Services develop new shifts designed to keep employees happy and control overtime.

In two 8-7 votes on Monday, commissioners rejected two separate motions to transfer money to a part-time code to allow Phillips to pay Shope from that code, including one to reduce the amount transferred by $5,000. Nine votes were required for either motion to pass.

Voting in favor of the main motion were Meredith and Anderson County Commission Parliamentarian Dusty Irwin, and commissioners Mark Alderson, Zach Bates, Steve Emert, Robert McKamey, Tracy Wandell, and Jerry White.

Voting against it were Biloski, Creasey, Iwanski, and Mead, and Anderson County Commission Chair Chuck Fritts and commissioners Tim Isbel and John Shuey.

Anderson County Commissioner Whitey Hitchcock was absent.