Finance committee accepts $134.5M debt report and approves year-end budget amendments

HAMBLEN COUNTY, Tenn. — The Hamblen County Finance Committee on June 15 accepted the county’s annual debt report and approved a batch of year-end budget amendments covering several funds.

Finance staff presented the report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, saying total county debt will be $134,535,388, with roughly $41 million attributable to school debt, about $86.5 million to county obligations and about $6.8 million tied to landfill projects (shredder and expansion). The presenter, Amanda Hail, said the county’s Moody’s and S&P ratings remain “very strong.”

Committee members voted to accept the report. Finance staff also presented multiple budget amendments described as year-end bookkeeping cleanups: adjustments to education summer program lines, bus insurance proceeds, pre-K grant reclassifications, general fund departmental true-ups, sanitation diesel reallocation, drug-abatement fund recognitions, highway fund true-ups, debt-service interest recognition tied to a school bond issuance, and capital-project adjustments for trustee commissions.

Mayor Cutshaw and staff explained Construction Change Directive 04 documents earlier completed work so the county can be reimbursed through a state grant and audited. The committee approved the bookkeeping entries and CCD processing.

What’s next: Finance staff will post the full report and updated budget documents online. The committee recorded that motions carried but the transcript did not include roll-call vote tallies.

Reporting note: Some proper names and bill titles in the packet were inconsistent in the transcript; this article uses the county’s official spelling 'Hamblen County' where the transcript varied.