By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — Protest signs, protest shirts, 13 public comments, a stand off between the Metro Council chairwoman and a fellow council member, and a sudden resignation. Tonight Metro Council meeting had it all.

Some arrived as early at 4:30 p.m. for the 6 p.m. meeting. Dozen of school system employees, county employees, and interested citizens packed the American Legion. Why? On the agenda sat the second reading of the 2025-26 budget — the topic of discussion around Woodard’s Market tables and social media all week.

Even before the Pledge of Allegiance, things felt tense. Outside signs read, “When the Government Is Run by the School Board = Bad Grade” and inside locals wore shirts that read, “Support Public Schools” and “I Got Blocked by a Council Member.”

During a public hearing about the budget prior to the regular meeting, over a dozen locals spoke — some for and some against the proposed tax increase by about equal measure.

Council tables retirement plan

However, before the vote on the regular budget could take place, Budget Chair Gerald Burnett addressed the Council concerning Metro Moore County adding all county employees to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS).

County officials told the Council that they received new cost estimates from CTAS last week regarding what it would take for Moore County to enroll all eligible employees in the TCRS at a total cost of $4.8 million. This figure reflects the requirement to retroactively fund retirement contributions for employees from their initial hire dates, not just going forward.

Two funding scenarios were discussed—a $1.5 million upfront payment with the remainder amortized over ten years, or a smaller $1.1 million down payment with slightly higher annual costs. To make room in the budget, county leaders proposed shifting $0.10 into the general fund—$0.04 from debt service and $0.06 as a new property tax increase. This would raise the total property tax rate by six cents compared to the first reading.

Budget Chair Burnett and Mayor Sloan Stewart emphasized that this investment is key for employee retention and long-term financial health, but acknowledged they were caught off guard by the timing and magnitude of the cost. With only a few days to process the report before the meeting, many questions remain—particularly around long-term funding strategies, alternative financing methods, and employee eligibility. The county is exploring options like working with the municipal bond fund, which offers more flexibility than the Department of Treasury.

The proposed plan would only cover full-time employees actively working when the plan takes effect. Part-time workers and retirees would not be eligible. Several council members voiced concerns about the rushed timeline, lack of details, and the burden of stacking another tax increase on top of an already controversial one. Peggy Sue Blackburn suggested the county explore cutting costs elsewhere—such as what she deemed “its unusually high 80 percent contribution to employee health insurance” — to help offset retirement costs without raising taxes.

Ultimately, the council voted 8-5 to table the motion to adopt the new tax levy that included TCRS funding. Burnett, Amy Cashion, Darrell Richards, Robert Bracewell, Greg Guinn, John Taylor, Houston Lindsey, and Peggy Sue Blackburn voted in favor of tabling the TCRS line item and Jimmy Hammond, Dexter Golden, Arvis Bobo, Bradley Dye, Marty Cashion voted not to table it. Douglas Carson and Shane Taylor – who would be personally financially affected by the decision – abstained.

Following the vote, Budget Chair Burnett emphasized that the initiative is likely not dead—only delayed. Local officials plan to revisit the issue after a scheduled meeting with the municipal bond fund later in the week. More meetings, discussions, and refinements are expected before the plan comes back to the full council for a second reading later this summer. Their deadline to move forward in October and if approved, enrollment would begin January 1, 2026. With that, they moved on to a consideration of a second reading of the 2025-26 County General budgets.

2025-26 budget passes 10-5

Following the approval of the first reading in May, the Metro Council voted again in June on the proposed tax levy included in this year’s budget. In the discussion leading up to the vote, council member Darrell Richards urged fellow members to maintain civility and respect in future conversations, regardless of differing views. Richards gave his impromptu resignation at the end of the meeting – walking out of the American Legion door and into the night well before the meeting adjourned.

Despite differing opinions, the final roll call vote resulted in a 10–5 approval of the budget and accompanying tax levy of $1.7412 in the county and $1.7480 in the Urban Services District. That levy breaks down as follows: $0.6689 to County General, $0.0552 to the Solid Waste Department, $0.0097 to the Highway Department, $0.83 to Moore County Schools, and $0.1774 to debt service. Folks in the Urban Services District pay $0.0068 more.

At roll call, the budget passed 10-5 with Shane Taylor, Houston Lindsey, John Taylor, Douglas Carson, Marty Cashion, Bradley Dye, Arvis Bobo, Amy Cashion, Dexter Golden, and Gerald Burnett voted in favor of passing the 2025-26 budget and Peggy Sue Blackburn, Greg Guinn, Robert Bracewell, Darrell Richards, and Jimmy Hammond voted against. Lindsey, John Taylor, Amy Cashion, and Marty Cashion — all with ties to the school system — disclosed potential conflicts of interest but stated they plan to “vote in accordance with their obligations to their constituents.” The budget now moves forward as officially adopted.

Chairwoman Cashion, Bracewell face off

During a discussion about Metro Moore County’s charitable contributions to Cornerstone, Moore County Friends of Animals, and the Moore County Senior Citizens, Bracewell quipped, “Why don’t we give away more of other people’s money.” {Editor’s Note: This quote was corrected at 10:48 p.m. per Councilman Bracewell’s request.} Chairwoman Cashion quickly rebuked him.

“Stop with the sarcasm,” she demanded. “You say whatever you need to say or suggest another charitable contribution if you don’t like these, but the sarcasm is not okay.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bracewell retorted back as he furiously bounced his leg under the table.

About 20 minutes later as Chairwoman Cashion looked to adjourn the meeting, Bracewell took the floor to accuse Metro Mayor Stewart and the Metro Council Budget Committee of an ethics violation.

The controversy began when Bracewell questioned whether a recessed budget committee meeting held earlier in June was properly noticed to the public. He claimed this wasn’t the first time the body had violated Tennessee’s open meetings laws, pointing to a similar incident two years ago. Citing a letter from CTAS and the county’s own ethics resolution, he warned that reconvening without public notice may constitute a violation.

Things escalated quickly from there. Budget Committee Chair Burnett fired back, defending the recess as a standard procedural move done in good faith to finalize the budget. But Bracewell didn’t back down—going so far as to call for an ethics investigation and questioned whether some members had financial conflicts of interest in the final budget vote.

The room boiled over when Bracewell attempted to publicly state that another council member’s household income increased by nearly $7,000 under the new budget. Chairwoman Cashion cut him off and declared personal income discussions off-limits.

“You’re not going to talk about personal income in this body,” she said firmly, reminding everyone that while budget documents are public, council member and school system employees names and salaries were shared in confidence and should not have been published. “If you want to talk about ethics, that is a violation.”

Bracewell published all Moore County School System employee salaries with individual names associated with each position on his Moore County, TN District 2 Facebook page on May 26.

The tension continued to simmer until Richards resigned from his council seat and left the room, saying simply, “I wish you all the best.” •

About The Lynchburg Times
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