JOHN COFFELTEditor

A perceived lack of commitment by the Coffee County Commission regarding animal control just might have cost the county $500,000.

County Mayor Judd Matheny said during a recent Health, Welfare and Recreation Committee meeting that the anonymous individual who had planned to donate the money to be put towards a new $1.5 million animal shelter expressed concern because the Commission slashed half its veterinary money from its 2023-2024 county budget.

During budget negotiations Coffee County cut veterinary money from $15,000 to $7,500 and the dog food budget from $5,000 to $2,500.

Matheny said the donor asked him, “Why should I give you $500,000 if the Commission can’t even put $10,000 into it?”

Matheny said that the benefactor would probably reconsider if the county restores the animal control budget. The matter will appear before Budget and Finance Committee for a proposed budget amendment.

While funding for the facilities construction is still up in the air, the property donation aspect of the project is still on track. The property assessment for a three-acre tract of land adjacent to the jail site comes in at $290,000. The site will be donated to the county by Tom Rice with a stipulation that the county must use the property for an animal control shelter for about 20 years.

Matheny said that the county has secured a second donation of $500,000, the total in-kind in land or cash donations are estimated to be $1.3 million for the project, not including an additional $500,000 that the county has earmarked in American Recovery Act money for the project.

Concerns about a third-party non-profit handling donations for the county has caused the county to suspend the animal shelter fundraising organization in the wake of the Coffee County Drug Court comptroller’s report dating from April 2023.

“We backed off from the 501(c)3 primarily after everything that happened with Drug Court,” Matheny said. “We didn’t want to get into another position where the third-party entity could represent Coffee County in anyway.”

Matheny said that additional smaller donations are poised to come in. Those donors will be issued IRS charitable donation letters that has the same taxable donation benefits as if they were to donate to a 501(c)3.

Matheny said that the new shelter will be secure, fenced and where it needs to be. He is hopeful that the facility will also have the capacity accept cats.

The new facility is estimated to grow the department’s budget from about $200,000 to about $350,000. A new full-time animal control officer will be needed. The county is looking to work through legal challenges so that community volunteers can work in about 50% of the facility.

Offer to city for animal control services withers

In other news, Matheny said a suggestion by the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen that the City of Manchester contract with the Coffee County to handle animal control in the municipality is no longer on the table due to city’s reluctance to fund the agreement.

A majority of members of the Manchester Street and Street Lighting Committee were unwilling to transfer the city shelter’s $50,000 budget allocations for the shelter’s operations to the county.

In addition to be the offer being pulled, an ongoing negotiation for the county to sell the city 4.3 acres of county-owned land located behind the Manchester City Shop will be paused until the county can construct its new shelter.

“To be in an abundance of caution, we will build our shelter, get it commissioned; then we can talk about selling the four acres to them,” Matheny said.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.