Elizabeth Trexler: News-Herald

Another contested issue at the meeting, Thursday's Commission meeting, was the employee insurance situation.

What had been proposed was a phasing in of a 70/30 split of health insurance, with each year the county paying the same monetary amount as the previous year, and employees picking up the rest of the premium, until a 70/30 split was achieved. As of now, the split has been 92/8, with the county paying 92 percent and the employee paying 8.

This was proposed along with the raises for clerical workers and a 1.6 percent one-time bonus for the rest of the county employees.

However, Penny Glasgow, a county employee for 20 years, spoke during the public comments and said that since the insurance was not put out to bid, the plan was a violation of the Tennessee Code Annotated.

"Make our broker do his job and bid it out," Glasgow told the commission.

The commission voted to hold off on the salary increases and health insurance changes until  Loudon County Mayor Estelle Herron could get with department heads and discuss the issues with them.

The commission also voted to implement the Bridge portion of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) for public safety officers.

The budget committee had voted against supporting the system this year.

"I am for the Sheriff's Office, but we are looking at fiscal responsibility," Yarbrough said. "We cut nonprofits," she said of the committee efforts to save the county money.

The vote was 7-3, with Shaver, Yarbrough and Miller voting no.