Cleveland County Budget Board Regular Meeting - March 23, 2026

The Cleveland County Budget Board convened on March 23, 2026, to consider a series of budget transfers, appropriations, and error corrections. All items on the agenda were approved unanimously by the board members present: Chairman Jacob McHughes, Vice-Chairman Douglas Warr (noted as absent for infrastructure update), Secretary Pam Howlett, and members Rusty Grissom, Rod Cleveland (noted as not voting? Actually transcribed as Chris/Anison), Marilyn Williams, and Tammy Richards. The meeting lasted approximately one hour.

Consent Calendar

• Approval of the Budget Board Minutes for the Regular Meeting of February 23, 2026, and the Special Meeting of March 2, 2026. Motion by McHughes, seconded, and carried unanimously.
• Approval of Cash Fund Appropriations for February 16 to March 15, 2026, totaling over $1.8 million across 29 line items, including funds for Assessor Revolving, CBRIF accounts, County Clerk fees, Fairgrounds, Farm Market, Health, Highway Districts, Jail Commissary, Opioid Abatement Settlement, Sales Tax, Sheriff Service Fees, and others. Approved unanimously after a correction noted that Sheriff Service Fees line items should be 21656 and 51 cents (transcript garbled: "service fees should be two one six five six and fifty-one cents").

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public signed up to speak.

Discussion Items

• Transfer of Funds to Capital Reserve (Item 3): Approved a transfer of $500,000 from the General Fund (100) to the Capital Reserve Fund (200200-54000), authorized by a prior resolution on May 28, 2025.
• Transfer of Funds to Rainy Day Fund (Item 4): Approved a transfer of $500,000 from the General Fund (100) to the Rainy Day Fund (250200-54801), also authorized by the May 28, 2025 resolution.
• Transfer of Funds for Commissioner Travel (Item 5): Approved a transfer of $13,000 from General Fund Commissioners Capital Outlay (100120-55000) to General Fund Commissioners Travel (100120-53000).
• Transfer of Funds from State Opioid Abatement Program (Item 6): Approved a transfer of $22,272.83 from State Opioid Abatement Program (2512-1-54000) to Opioid Abatement Settlement (251200-54868) to correct a prior accounting error (PO 20252255 was charged to wrong account).
• Highway District 2 Transfer (Item 7): Approved a transfer of $33,088.68 from General Fund District Two Lease/Purchase (100921-50000), $290,000 from General Fund Personnel (100920-51000), and $10,000 from General Fund Travel (100920-53000) to General Fund Capital Outlay ($43,088.68) and General Fund M&O ($290,000) for pickup purchase and road materials.
• Sheriff Service Fee Transfer (Item 8): Approved a transfer of $35,000 from Sheriff Service Fee Personnel (116500-51000) to Sheriff Service Fee M&O (116500-54000) to cover expenses related to the new Sheriff’s Office relocation.
• Sheriff General Fund Transfer (Item 9): Approved a transfer of $135,000 from General Fund Sheriff Personnel (100500-51000) to General Fund Sheriff M&O (100500-54000) for ammunition ($69,073), gas blocks ($49,450), media wall ($16,583.19), utilities ($30,000), blankets ($126,500), and vehicle/self insurance ($13,428.81).
• Sheriff Detention Center Transfer (Item 10): Approved a transfer of $170,000 from General Fund Sheriff Detention Center Personnel (100552-51000) to Sheriff General Fund M&O (100500-54000) for the same expenses listed in Item 9.
• Public Safety Sales Tax Transfer (Item 11): Approved a transfer of $254,000 from Public Safety Sales Tax M&O (209500-54000) to Public Safety Sales Tax Capital Outlay (209500-55000).
• Detention Center Transfer (Item 12): Approved a transfer of $55,000 from CCSO Detention Center M&O (100280-54004) to CCSO Detention Center Capital Outlay (100280-55004).
• Court Judges Transfer (Item 13): Approved a transfer of $2,160 from Court Judges M&O (100160-54000) to Court Judges Payroll (100160-51000).
• County Clerk Transfer (Item 14): Approved a transfer of $20,000 from County Clerk Personnel (100170-51000) to County Clerk Capital Outlay (100170-55000) for building improvements.
• Fairgrounds Transfer (Item 15): Approved a transfer of $18,084 from General Fund Free Fair Board Personnel (100750-51000) to General Fund Free Fair Board M&O (100750-54000) for printing County Fair Books and purchasing support equipment.
• Election Board Transfer (Item 16): Approved a transfer of $25,000 from General Fund Election Board Capital Outlay (100250-55000) to Personnel (100250-51000) for election help salaries for the June county-wide elections.
• Error Correction - Commissioners (Item 17): Approved a correction of $10,308.76 from GF Commissioners General Government M&O (100124-54000) to GF Commissioners M&O (100120-54000) to correct PO numbers charged to wrong account.
• Error Correction - Court Judges (Item 18): Approved a correction of $32.48 from General Fund Court Clerk Travel (100161-53000) to General Fund Court Judges Travel (100160-53000) due to invoice paid from wrong account.
• Update on Employee Benefits (Item 19): No report was given; no one requested an update.
• Infrastructure Committee Update (Item 20): Vice-Chairman Warr was absent, but members noted that the new Sheriff’s Office project is nearly complete; employees are moving into the front office.
• Presentation from George Mauldin, Safety & Emergency Management Director (Item 21): Mauldin reported that the hydro litigation plan has been adopted by all jurisdictions and sent to FEMA Region VI, though the federal government partial shutdown may delay approval until April. He warned of increased fire risk with no rain forecast and announced that he conducted situational awareness and de-escalation training for the Assessor’s office, offering similar classes to other departments.

Key Outcomes

• All 20 action items (minutes, appropriations, 14 transfers, 2 error corrections, and reports) were approved unanimously by the board. Roll call votes confirmed: McHughes (yes), Howlett (yes), Grissom (yes), Amason (yes), Williams (yes), Richards (yes) on each item.
• No new business or board member announcements were made beyond brief remarks about the passing of a county employee and the upcoming ribbon-cutting for the new Sheriff’s Office on May 7, 2026 (tentatively April 14 for move-in).
• Meeting adjourned unanimously.