As of Monday, January 26th the DeKalb County Trustee’s Office had collected 45.53% of the $7.5 million in 2014 county property taxes to be collected by February 28. That includes property, residential, commercial, personal, and public utility taxes.
Trustee Sean Driver told WJLE on Tuesday, January 27 that collections to date are in line with those of previous years which means February will be a busy month for the Trustee’s Office as taxpayers rush to beat the deadline. “Last year on this same date, January 26 we had collected 46.66% . We’re usually at this same level every year with about the same percentages. We are about to go into the month of February and we’re fixing to be busy. Just by looking at all the past years taxes have come in we’re due to collect about $3.5 million coming up. That’s collecting about half of the tax base in February alone.,” said Driver.
Saturday, February 28 is the last day to pay the 2014 property taxes before penalties start accruing March 1. Since the deadline falls on Saturday, Driver said the Trustee’s office will be open that day from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
The Trustee’s Office is also open regular hours from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday- Friday. “Remember, if the last day comes and you can’t make it to the post office to postmark your payment, we do have a drop box on the outside wall of the county offices section of the county complex. If you choose to use the drop box that weekend (February 28) we will gather the mail on Monday, March 2 from the drop box and no penalties will be applied to your 2014 tax bill,” said Driver.
Driver said you have four options for paying 2014 property taxes. “You can come by in person at the Trustee’s Office or you may mail in your payment. We also offer online bill pay at www.tennesseetrustee.com. You go to that website and select DeKalb County and then follow the instructions. Business Information Systems has set this up for Trustees across the state and there is a fee to use your debit or credit card. If you do pay online the fee to use your debit or credit card is 2.75% of your total tax bill. Or you can use an e-check for $2.50 on any total. Online accepts Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. Business Information Systems collects the fees, not DeKalb County” said Driver.
“We are also accepting partial payments in any amount. Remember, whatever portion of taxes is unpaid for 2014 using the partial payment plan, only the portion left unpaid will accrue at 1.5% penalty and interest per month starting March 1. The office can still receive partial payments on 2013 delinquent taxes up until March 31” said Driver.
Any 2013 unpaid property taxes will be turned over to the Chancery Court on April 1 for collection. The Trustee’s office has collected to date 97.3% of the 2013 property taxes and will be sending out a notice to those still delinquent. “We are in the process of mailing out a reminder for those taxes that are left unpaid for 2013. We will be sending out those (notices) within the next week. If those taxes for 2013 are not paid before April 1 we will be sending that file to the Chancery Court on April 1. We can still receive partial payments on 2013 taxes up to that date,” said Driver.
The Trustee’s Office also offers the State of Tennessee Tax Relief. “If you would like to check on a possible tax relief for 2014, come and see us at 732 South Congress Boulevard, Room 103 or call us at 597-5176,” said Driver. ” The last day to sign up for tax relief is April 6.

A Hendersonville woman was injured in a bizarre crash Wednesday morning on the Old Casey Cove Road in DeKalb County.
41 year old Krystal McFall was airlifted by a Life Force helicopter ambulance and flown to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville.
The accident is under investigation by Trooper Chris Delong of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Members of the DeKalb County Fire Department responded and the following is a supplement to an incident report filed by County Fire Chief Donny Green as to the details of the accident.
“The DeKalb County Fire Department responded to a reported motor vehicle accident at 911 Old Casey’s Cove Road in Smithville, Tennessee. 911 Dispatch provided information that the vehicle had gone over a steep embankment and there was a patient trapped. The DeKalb County Fire Department’s Extrication Unit was also dispatched to the scene.”
“Chief Donny Green arrived on the scene and discovered a Ford F-150 pickup truck off the steep embankment with the front of the truck resting against a lakeside cabin. Green also discovered that a female, Krystal McFall, was pinned between the truck door frame and a large tree stump.”
“Rescue technicians and equipment arrived on the scene and a plan was devised to safely move the truck off of the pinned patient. The rescue operation went very smoothly and the patient was quickly freed and turned over to DeKalb County EMS for trauma treatment.”
“Upon interviewing witnesses at the scene, Chief Green learned that a 5-year old boy who was in the care of the victim, Krystal McFall, was actually present and witnessed the accident. His account, along with evidence at the scene, indicated that McFall had attempted to turn around on the narrow road and became stuck when the front end of her Ford pickup truck went slightly over an embankment. As it became apparent she was stuck, she got the young boy out of the truck as she attempted to back the truck up”.
“McFall put pieces of wood under the back tires to gain more traction. But, as she was still outside of the truck, the truck began sliding or rolling further over the steep embankment. McFall attempted to jump in the truck to apply the brakes to stop it when she became pinned between a large tree stump and the open door frame of the truck. Apparently, the 5-year old boy, who was not inside the truck and not injured, witnessed the accident and ran approximately ½ mile down the road and found someone to alert about the accident. DeKalb 911 Central Dispatch was notified of the accident and immediately dispatched appropriate resources”.
“The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and DeKalb Tire and Service were on the scene to render additional assistance. DeKalb Tire and Service’s wrecker was requested to be dispatched to the scene by the fire department’s rescue personnel in case heavy equipment was needed to stabilize and move the vehicle. However, the extrication team was able to free the patient without having to use the wrecker. Chief Green expresses his appreciation to DeKalb Tire and Service for their quick response to standby at the scene”.
“Emergency personnel also credit the 5-year old boy’s bravery and composure as he played an integral role in quickly alerting a neighbor so that emergency responders could be summoned. According to Chief Green, had it not been for this young boy’s quick and smart actions, the accident would have likely been delayed in getting reported because of the remote nature and infrequent travel of this road,” Green concluded in his report.

DeKalb County students in grades 3-11 will be taking the TCAP Writing Assessments in February.
The MIST online testing process will be administered throughout the month of February. According to Michelle Burklow, Supervisor of Instruction for Pre-K through 6th grade, this year’s testing is different in that it is on-line and students will read two informational texts and complete a writing task in response to a prompt/or prompts as part of the assessments. “Our new TCAP test is not going to be just multiple choice. It’s going to involve writing. The state is preparing our students for next year’s testing through different components this year. As in the past, we will still have the writing assessment for this year but it has expanded and changed dramatically. Every student in grades 3-11 will be taking the writing assessment which is now a computerized test. Dates for the testing have also been spread throughout the month because of so many students having to take the writing assessment. Different grade levels are going to be taking a week at a time to take this test. This does not mean that it will take an entire week for an individual child to take this test. We just had to set grade level windows so the school could set classroom schedules,” said Burklow.
Grade level testing windows will begin next week, February 2-6 for students in grades 3, 6, & 9. “These students will be participating in the writing assessment. This means those students will go into the computer lab or they may have the mobile lab brought to their classroom and they will be reading two texts and writing based upon a prompt from those texts,” said Burklow.
Other grade level testing windows are as follows:
February 9-13th grades 4, 7, and 10th
February 16-20th grades 5 and 11
February 23-27th grade 8.
“These are grade level schedules. The classroom schedules are being developed at the school level but we want to encourage all students to make sure to get to school on time because we’re not sure which classes will be starting first thing in the mornings. We will be testing early and it may go through most of the day so please parents have students in class in order for them to participate in the writing assessment,” said Burklow.
“Grades 3-5 will only have to write one text while grades 6-11 will have to write two different texts. Grades 3-5 will write and read for 90 minutes while grades 6-11 will have 120 minutes for writing and reading with the stimulus the state has provided,” she said
“We also have a Wida test where we test students with a second language and that window is very similar to the writing assessment window so students with a second language will be tested that week as well,” Burklow concluded.

The county will re-apply for a grant to rehabilitate dilapidated homes at no cost to the homeowner.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the county commission adopted a resolution authorizing the filing of an application for $500,000 in funding through the Tennessee Housing Development Agency’s Home Grant program, which would help bring a certain number of dilapidated homes up to code. The limit of assistance per household is $40,000.
The county and City of Smithville each applied for the grants last year but neither received approval.
Homeowners who have at least one codes violation would be able to submit an application. Once received, the applications would be ranked based on a number of criteria, such as household income and the home’s location. Approved houses would be upgraded at no expense to the homeowner, with a maximum amount that can be applied toward each house. Funding restrictions apply, such as the home must be a single family dwelling and owner occupied (not a rental or manufactured). Funds must also be limited to existing structures.
Funding can only go toward homes that can be rehabilitated to meet housing codes using up to the limited amount.
Cities and counties who apply will learn if they are approved for the grants later this year after a THDA board meeting.
In other business, the commission approved the reappointment of Donny Green as Chief of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department and David Agee as Assistant Chief for the next year.
County Mayor Tim Stribling announced that members of the Fire Department met January 4 for the annual election of officers and nominated Green and Agee subject to approval of the county commission.
Bazel Dick Knowles, Fifth district member of the county beer board has resigned his position. County Mayor Stribling announced the vacancy Monday night and added that the position could be filled by the commission at the February meeting

An annual state audit of the DeKalb County government has resulted in ten findings with apparently no major deficiencies or problem areas being identified.
The Tennessee Department of Treasury’s Division of Local Government Audit last week released the Annual Financial Report of DeKalb County for the year ended June 30, 2014.
A few of the ten findings in the audit are recurring and have been cited in previous years audit reports. Detailed findings, recommendations, and management’s response are included in the Single Audit section of this report
(CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW DEKALB COUNTY AUDIT REPORT. READ FINDINGS ON PAGES 169-176)http://comptroller.tn.gov/repository/CA/2014/DeKalbAFR.pdf
The following are summaries of the audit findings and recommendations:
*Office of County Mayor (prior administration):
The Solid Waste Disposal Fund had a deficit in unrestricted net position. The Solid Waste Disposal Fund had a deficit of $2.8 million in unrestricted net position. This resulted from the recognition of a liability totaling $6.6 million in the financial statements for costs associated with closing the county’s landfill and monitoring the landfill for 30 years after its closure. The county intends to fund this liability on a pay-as-you-go basis. Generally accepted accounting principles and state statutes require that such costs be reflected in the financial statements. County officials should develop and implement a plan that would fund the deficit in unrestricted net position.
It is not the first time the county has been “written up” for this. It has become an annual finding of the state. The county is expected to provide financial assurance of a funding mechanism for performing post-closure corrective action at a closed solid waste landfill that may cause some type of contamination in the future. According to the state, the county is $2.8 million short of meeting that obligation, which could come to as much as $6.6 million over the next 30 years.
*Office of Road Supervisor (prior administration):
The office did not maintain adequate controls over consumable assets. The office did not maintain inventory records of consumable assets, such as fuel and tile. Generally accepted accounting principles require accountability of all consumable assets. The failure to maintain adequate records of consumable assets weakens controls over these assets and increases the risk of inventory loss. Furthermore, personnel independent of maintaining the inventory should periodically verify these records.
*Office of the Director of Schools:
Material audit adjustments were required for proper financial statement presentation. At June 30, 2014, certain general ledger account balances in the Education Capital Projects Fund were not materially correct, and audit adjustments totaling $409,427 were required for the Financial statements to be materially correct at year-end. Generally accepted accounting principles require the DeKalb County School Department to have adequate internal controls over the maintenance of its accounting records. This deficiency was the result of a lack of management oversight. The School Department should have appropriate processes in place to ensure that its general ledgers are materially correct.
*Office of the Director of Schools:
The School Federal Projects Fund had a cash overdraft of $26,060 at June 30. 2014. This cash overdraft resulted from the issuance of checks exceeding cash on deposit with the county trustee. The cash overdraft was liquidated subsequent to June 30, 2014. In the Management Response from the Office of Director of Schools, “We currently have an $80,000 reserve in federal projects to cover any cash overdrafts. This unfortunately was not enough to cover our accounts receivable at year-end since the reimbursement request dated May 30 for the Twenty First Century Community Learning Centers was not received until July 7, 2014, along with our other June requests. Had we received this request of $35,753 in June, we would have had sufficient funds to cover the cash overdrafts”.
*Office of Director of Schools:
The office processed and distributed payroll checks inappropriately. The School Department processed and distributed payroll checks to 12-month support staff on the fifth day of each month for that month’s salary, in effect paying these employees for work that had not yet been performed. If an employee were to leave service prior to the end of the month, the School Department would have to attempt to recover the overpayment of wages. This deficiency is the result of a Board of Education policy dictating the pay date for these employees. School officials should not issue payroll checks to employees before they earn the compensation.
*Office of Trustee:
The trustee did not require a depository to adequately collateralize funds. During the year, deposits exceeded FDIC coverage and collateral securities pledged by $1.2 million; however funds were adequately secured at June 30, 2014. The Trustee should require all depositories to pledge sufficient securities to protect county funds exceeding FDIC coverage as required by state statute.
In response to WJLE, Trustee Sean Driver explained that this finding was the result of a timing issue involving the merger of two banks and in trying to determine with whom the pledges were to be secured after the merger. When the Trustee’s office made this determination the issue was properly addressed and should not reoccur in the future.
*Office of Circuit, General Sessions, and Juvenile Courts Clerk:
Execution of docket trial balances for Circuit and General Sessions Courts did not reconcile with general ledger accounts by $6,679 and $2,937, respectively. Therefore we were unable to determine if the clerk had complied with provisions of the Unclaimed Property Act. The statute provides that any funds held by the courts for more than one year and unclaimed by the owner are considered abandoned. TCA (state law) further requires these funds to be reported and paid to the state Treasurer’s Office.
*Offices of Circuit, General Sessions, and Juvenile Courts Clerk and Register of Deeds:
Multiple employees operated from the same cash drawer. Good internal controls dictate that each employee have their own cash drawer, start the day with a standard fixed amount of cash, and remove all but that beginning amount at the end of the day. This amount should be verified to the employee’s receipts at the end of each day. Failure to adhere to this control regimen greatly increases the risk that a cash shortage may not be detected in a timely manner. Furthermore, in the event of a cash shortage, the official would not be able to determine who was responsible for the shortage because multiple employees were working from one cash drawer. Officials should assign each employee their own cash drawer.
*Offices of Road Supervisor, Trustee, Register of Deeds, and Sheriff:
Duties were not segregated adequately. Officials and employees responsible for maintaining the accounting records in these offices were also involved in receipting, depositing, and/or disbursing funds. Accounting standards provide that internal controls be designed to give reasonable assurance of the reliability of financial reporting and of the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Officials should segregate duties to the extent possible using available resources
*DeKalb County Commission:
The County Commission’s Audit Committee is not a functioning committee. DeKalb County participates in the Three Star Program through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to assist the county’s community development efforts in competing for jobs and attracting industry. One of the requirements of the Three Star Program is that the county must create and maintain an Audit Committee. DeKalb County created an Audit Committee on May 11, 2011 as provided by TCA (state law); however there are minutes from only one meeting on July 30, 2013, to document that Audit Committee has met or conducted business. Without a functioning Audit Committee, the County Commission does not have independent and objective reviews of the financial reporting process, internal controls, the audit function, and monitoring management’s plans to address various risks. The County Commission’s Audit Committee should be a functioning committee, maintain minutes of its meetings, and annually present a written committee report detailing how it discharged its duties and any committee recommendations to the full County Commission.

The DeKalb County Extension Office has a new agent.
In an interview with WJLE on Tuesday, January 27, Leigh Fuson said she has joined the staff as a 4-H Extension Agent and will be working with Director and County Extension Agent Michael Barry and Dr. April Martin, Extension Family Consumer Science Agent.
Fuson, who is originally from White County, married Zach Fuson of Smithville four years ago and the couple resides here. She is a graduate of Tennessee Tech with a degree in agriculture education and comes to this new position after having worked with the 4-H program in Putnam County for three years.
According to Fuson, her new 4-H assignment will allow both Barry and Martin to devote more time to other programs they are already involved in. “I am a 4-H Extension agent. That’s the only thing I’ll be working with. Michael and April will still be doing a little of the 4-H work but this way they can focus on the adult programming with agriculture and the family consumer sciences,” she said.
Fuson’s position is primarily being funded through Tennessee State University with a portion being financially supported by the county. “It is TSU funded. When you hear about the extension office, it is usually UT Extension. UT partners with TSU. They are both land grant universities in our state and they both have extension programs. We got funding here for an extra TSU funded position,” said Fuson.
Excited about starting her new job, Fuson said she hopes to expand programs and services for 4-H students. ” I hope to get some more programming going in the county. Since they do the adult work too, Michael and April haven’t had as much time to do some of the judging teams and the competitive events so I hope to be able to start a horse judging team, a livestock judging, poultry, etc. I really like doing my animal projects,” she said.
“When you think about 4-H you think about the traditional things with livestock, farming, bread baking and all that but there is really a lot more to it. There’s a lot of science programming, leadership, and citizenship. They have really focused on the STEM activities and I’ll be doing some of that in the schools to help match up the standards with the schools. I’m just hoping to revamp some of the programming here in the county and get some more things going,” Fuson continued.
Fuson encourages anyone to contact the Extension Office to offer an idea or suggestion. ” You may call the office at 615-597-4945. My email address is lfuson2@utk.edu. I have also started a facebook page and we have a UT Extension website. You can google us there too. If there is anything specific programming wise that a student is interested in that we don’t have here, talk to me and we’ll see if we can get it going. The first thing coming up will be horse judging. I’m going to try to get a team together for that. It’s time for the Chick Chain if anyone is interested in getting chickens. Everything in 4-H is fourth through twelfth grade and I look forward to going out into the schools. I’m excited to meet everybody,” said Fuson.

The School Board began its annual performance evaluation of Director of Schools Mark Willoughby in a workshop Monday night.
Board members are using a four page evaluation form to rate Director Willoughby 1-5 in each of 60 areas on his relationship with the Board, the Community, Staff and Personnel, Educational Leadership, Business and Finance, Personal Qualities, Strategic Planning Skills, and Tennessee Specific questions. A rating of “1” means his performance is “Consistently Below Expectations”. A “5” rating signifies that Willoughby “Meets All Expectations”. A rating with an asterisk (*) symbol means he “Exceeds Expectations”.
Other ratings the board members may give are:
“2”-Meets Few Expectations
“3”-Meets Some Expectations
“4”-Meets Most Expectations
Monday night’s workshop was cordial between the parties and although board members posed a few questions to Director Willoughby, they decided to reserve most of the evaluation process for individual meetings with him on a one to one basis during the remainder of the week.
Once the evaluation is completed, each board member will score Willoughby in all of the 60 areas on the form. The process has to be completed this week.
Willoughby’s contract states that the evaluation of the Director shall occur annually and no later than January 31 each calendar year.
All board members were present during Monday night’s workshop except for Kate Miller, who was unable to attend.
For five of the seven school board members, who have been in office less than five months, this is their first evaluation of this Director of Schools.
Willoughby’s current contract with the board is scheduled to expire June 30th, 2017. He has served as Director of Schools since July 1st, 2006.

Students at DeKalb West School last week got a firsthand experience in conducting science experiments inside a mobile learning laboratory, called the STEMmobile.
Housed in a 53-foot tractor-trailer with self-contained power, the STEMmobile has its own heating and cooling system, a satellite uplink for Internet connectivity and workstations to accommodate about 24 students at a time. The classroom on wheels is stocked with equipment from the Oakley STEM Center and Tennessee Tech University and includes equipment and supplies for activities at each grade level.
With carpet lined walls, bright lights, and industrial grade metal drawers, the STEMmobile is also equipped with stainless steel countertops under flat screen TVs for students to conduct their experiments, bringing technology to the doorsteps of the school.
The science lessons, based on Tennessee science standards developed by the Upper Cumberland Rural STEM Initiative, range from heart rate and simple circuits, to building lighted doorbells and more. “The second grade came out and we used magnets to demonstrate attractions to the poles and fields. The third grade was involved in wind movement power and energy. The fourth grade used chemical solutions and how they reacted. With the fifth grade, they pumped up their heart rate to encourage health and energy. The sixth grade did circuits from a simple to a schematic circuit building a door bell and the seventh grade did simple machines going all the way from a wedge to building a fulcrum,” said 6th grade DWS teacher Tammy Payne in an interview with WJLE Sunday. Eighth graders also worked on science projects in the STEMmobile.
DWS Principal Sabrina Farler said the school was pleased to have the STEMmobile back for the second year in a row. “We had the opportunity last week, January 20-23 and on Sunday, January 25 to have students come and experiment with a lot of things. We partnered with our science teachers in each grade and they were sent an email with links to videos and power points on standards that would be taught in class. Its material that is brought to them (students) as hands-on. Material that they would have had to learn in the classroom by reading it. This way they get to do the hands-on activities with it. They’ve worked on some math, science, and technology and the kids have been so excited. We focused on our third through eighth grade this year. Last year it was for K-8. Each grade, as they have moved up have had the opportunity to do two different experiments in the STEMmobile and we hope we have this opportunity again in the future,” Farler told WJLE.
The STEMmobile trailer and its first year of operations were funded through a grant from the state legislature, the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) and Tennessee Technical University. The mobile lab made stops at 20 school districts in the Upper Cumberland region during the 2013-14 school year.