The full County Commission came together Thursday evening to go over the entire county budget proposal for the 2019/2020 fiscal year, but conversation once again centered around the one department whose budget has yet to be resolved: the Planning Commission.

The last vote on the Planning Commission’s proposed 2019/2020 budget took place during the Budget Committee meeting last Monday, June 3, in which the commission’s proposed pay increases beyond the county commission’s budget numbers failed for the second time. Now the matter must go before the official county commission meeting Monday, June 17.

“Can we give the man a directive that we do not want economic development and/or project management in that office?” Commissioner Mike Hill asked those present.

Officially, the Budget Committee can only vote yes or no on budgets the departments bring before it, which became a point of contention last week, as the committee was unable to leave suggestions on ways the Planning Commission could compromise on a budget the committee would accept.

Without an approved Planning Commission budget, the rest of the county budget cannot pass a vote or reach the state.

“We are being held hostage for a salary, and that is not how it should be,” Commissioner Patty Woodby said.

If the commission does not want Planning Director Chris Schuettler’s office to handle economic development, then the question becomes who would assume that role in his place. The conversation hinted at possibly handing that responsibility to Mayor Russell Barnett’s Joint Economic and Community Development Board, which may replace Carter County Tomorrow once it dissolves in September of this year.

“Mayor Humphrey got rid of Carter County Tomorrow and put it in his office, and absolutely nothing got done for two years,” Commissioner Sonja Culler said.

Commissioner Ginger Holdren said she believed the Planning Commission deserved to be compensated for the work they do beyond their original titles.

“I do believe extra work deserves extra compensation,” Holdren said. “I would love for us to keep talking, keep making suggestions and get this worked out tonight. I am a person that is all about peace and compromise.”

Aaron Frazier suggested the possibility of accepting a pay increase for the Planning Commission for the duration of them holding the economic development responsibilities.

“If we keep not talking to them, or worse, talking at them and they are talking back at us, […] something has to break loose,” Hill said.

Ultimately, the commission was unable to come to a unified conclusion on what it wanted to do, so the discussion will continue during the County Commission meeting Monday, June 17 at 6 p.m. at the County Courthouse.