Committee members were quick to point out that currently there were no funds available for raises at this time and suggested the judge take his request to the budget committee to go through the regular budget process for the next fiscal year. The judge stated that he was afraid his request would just get lost in the budget process and he really wanted the committee to approve his request.

Judge Vann and the personal committee members all agreed that his employees were doing a good job but there were a number of other city departments who had employees who were requesting raises. Ultimately, the committee refused to take action on Vann's request at which point the judge became visibly upset and stated "I guess we can just slow down our collections." Currently the city court employees are responsible for collections of fines and fees imposed by the city judge.

Judge Vann and the Lenoir City Court system has been the point of ongoing controversy. Questions have been raised as to who has control of court employees and fiscal responsibility of the court. Judge Vann has also been in some hot water with the IRS for failing to pay several years of back taxes and was slapped with a $170,000.00 tax lean by the IRS. Aside from his Judgeship duties with the city, Vann has also been serving as the county's tax attorney for the past year. That term will end at the end of March.