LOUDON — A proposal before the Loudon County Commission to
use money earmarked for the schools to pay for county
operating expenses is getting a less than warm reception
from the school board.
In a County Commission Budget Committee meeting last week,
County Mayor Estelle Herron made a recommendation to
transfer “four pennies” of the tax rate — or about $640,000
per year — from the education debt service fund to the
county general fund.
According to school board member Dr. Gary Ubben, the school
board already had plans for those funds. “Those four pennies
are needed to borrow money for the second phase of the
school building program and to be able to pay it back in a
reasonable amount of time,” Ubben said.