Friday Recap January 2, 2025
My Comment
I am continuing my series on how we speak to and about each other with chapter three. Proverbs is such a practical book. If we are looking for guidance for living our lives, it's hard to find instruction that is more clear or easy to understand.
My dear wife turned me on to this the video on the ear. Since at least half of every conversation is listening, I thought this was apropos. I think we all take our ears for granted not realizing how profoundly complex they really are. Enjoy The Ear
I am running for re-election
I have gotten quite an education since I won the special election in November 2024. There is so much to learn about our county. There are 30 departments,10 boards and commissions as well as the mayor's office and the county commission. County Commissioner is a partisan position so I have to win a primary and a general election. Right now I and Meghan Guffee, both incumbents, are the only two candidates running in the Republican primary for District 10.
There are a number issues that I want to address in 2026:
Taxes and spending. Right now we are borrowing at least $30,000,000 each year just for our schools. This is money we don't have which means we are operating at a deficit. Our current county debt, as of June 30, stands at $1,124,895,000 ($185,065,000 is being serviced by the Williamson Health but we are the holders of the bonds). Our debt is going up every year. On June 30, 2016 our debt was $560,275,000. Compared to our current debt, this is a 10% per year growth rate. Our current budget is $903,117,259 and our debt service is $109,279,904 which is 12% of our budget.
In a way, we are victims of our own success. People want to come here to live because this is a great place to work and grow a family. The leaders who have come before me have had to deal with unprecedented growth over the last 35 years. In 1990 the population of the county was was 81,000 and we've grown to an estimated 270,000 currently. We have added approximately 5,400 people per year. This kind of growth puts a lot of pressure on county services, roads, schools, ambulance service, fire, sheriff and more. We have 52 schools in Williamson County, 27 of them have been built since 1990. The school district's five year plan calls for and additional $662,204,900 in school construction. We have an educational impact fee that is currently at approximately $95,000,000 that can only be used for new construction which helps, but the rest of it has to come from taxes, and/or debt. We need to slow down growth and require developers to provide more infrastructure when they develop a property and that includes roads, schools, police, fire, rescue, sewer, water and more. We can't keep adding and adding to the county without providing the infrastructure to support it.
Controlling Growth. This is a tough one. As a county commissioner, I have no say when a city wants to annex a property in its Urban Growth Boundary (UBG). You can read the Williamson County Growth Plan here. I am sponsoring a resolution to appeal to the Tennessee General Assembly to give county commissioners more say when a city wants to annex and develop a property. It is a long shot, but, in my opinion, we really need it. This resolution is on the agenda for the Tax Study Committee meeting next week, details below.
Future needs for fire, rescue and ambulance service. I have another resolution to create a task force to study our county's needs for these services in the unincorporated areas of the county and, in the case of ambulance service, in our municipalities as well. We are having a problem getting and keeping volunteer firefighters and we may have to move to paid firefighters in the not too distant future. Along with that is our ambulance service which is superb, but costly. It loses at least $12,000,000 a year. Insurance companies don't pay enough and it is hard to collect from uninsured patients. With the expectation that Williamson Health is looking for a buyer, there is more uncertainty about how our ambulance service will be run in the future. By state law, all counties have to provide ambulance service for all of their county. Right now, the county owns and houses the vehicles and Williamson Health provides the EMTs. We need to look ahead and be prepared for what is down the road. This resolution is on the agenda for both the Budget and Tax Study Committees next week.
These are just three areas of concern for me. I will have more to say about my positions on matters coming before the commission in the coming weeks. I am open to any suggestions you, as my readers, may have. There are no easy solutions but we need to clearly prioritize and find ways to pay for improvements besides raising taxes or issuing bonds. The discussions from both committee meetings should be interesting and I will be reporting on them next week.
Current list of people running for office in the May 5th primary.
To see who is running, go here
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The AI program I use is pretty accurate, but it does make mistakes from time to time and I don't always catch them. I provide agendas and videos/audios when I have them available and recommend that you watch the video and follow along with the summary to get the most accurate report.
One of the limitations of AI is that if a participant's name is not called out, then they are listed as participant 1, 2, etc. A limitation with audio, as opposed to video, is that one cannot always identify a person by voice alone. As imperfect as these AI summaries are, they still give a pretty good account of a meeting.
Williamson County School District
There are no school board meetings scheduled for next week
Williamson County Commission
Monday, January 5th
Budget committee will meet at 4:30 pm in the Executive Conference Room of the Williamson County Administrative Complex at 1320 W. main, Franklin Agenda Resolutions Transfers Video starts at 4:30. Committee members: Chas Morton (C), Guy Carden, Betsy Hester, Paul Web, Mayor Anderson
Tuesday, January 6th
The Parks and Rec. Committee will meet at 5:30 pm in the Executive Conference Room of the Williamson County Administrative Complex at 1320 W. main, Franklin Agenda/Resolutions Video* Committee members: Drew Torres (C), Mary Smith (VC), Lisa Hayes, Gregg Lawrence, Meghan Guffee, Sean Aiello
Tuesday, January 6th
SSDS Task Force will meet at 6:00 pm in the auditorium in the County Building at 1320 W. Main, Franklin. This is a public hearing for residents to speak about their experience when seeking a permit for a septic system. There has been a lot of information disseminated in the last couple of months that has not taken into account the many positive changes that have taken place in the Sewage Disposal Department in the last three years. Turn around times have been vastly improved and procedures have been put in place that have actually saved homeowners thousands of dollars. The updated information will be presented at this meeting and I will have a full report next Friday.
Wednesday, January 7th
Williamson County Highway Commission will meet at 8:30 am in the Highway Facility at 302 Beasley Drive, Franklin, TN 37064 Wednesday January 7, 2026. Agenda
Wednesday, January 7th
Tax Study Committee will meet at 5:30 pm in the Executive Conference Room of the Williamson County Administrative Complex at 1320 W. main, Franklin Resolution Resolution Video* Committee members: Lisa Hayes(C), Gregg Lawrence (VC), Drew Torres, Mary Smith, Steve Smith
Thursday, January 8th
Williamson County Planning Commission will meet at 5;30 pm in the auditorium in the County Building at 1320 W. Main, Franklin. Agenda/Packet Video
Thursday, January 8th
The Public Health Committee will meet at 5:30 pm in the Executive Conference Room of the Williamson County Administrative Complex at 1320 W. main, Franklin Agenda/Resolutions Video* Committee members: Sean Aiello, David O’Neil, Chris Richards, Mary Smith, Barb Sturgeon
*I co-wrote and sponsored, along with commissioner Aiello, the resolution that requires the county to start recording every committee meeting as of January 1, 2026. I am not sure if these meetings will be live streamed so you may not be able to watch them as they are happening.
Special Note: Since Williamson County does not record any meetings other than the commission, budget committee and planning commission meetings, I am recording all the meetings that I attend on my iPhone. Starting on January 1, 2026, all county committee meetings will be recorded and posted on the county website.
Board of Mayor and Aldermen
For all meetings next week go here. The next BOMA meeting is January 13th
Election Commission
No meetings this week or next
If not me, who?
If not now, when?
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1)
“We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer gently.” (1st Corinthians 4:12-13)
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves" (Philippians 2:3)
Blessings,
Bill
Community resources
If you like Friday Recap, check out these other grassroots conservative projects!
- Grassroots Citizens of Williamson County Provides free tools and information to help grassroots conservatives exercise their citizenship here in Williamson County.
- Tennessee Voters for Election Integrity is helping restore confidence in Tennessee Elections.
- TruthWire Local news and commentary.
- Williamson County Republican Party is one of the most active parties in the state and captures the conservative heart of Tennessee.
- Mom's For Liberty Williamson County is dedicated to fighting for the American family by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.
- Tennessee Stands produces video media, podcasts, and live events, and provides social commentary on relevant issues in our state.
- M4LU is a new site developed by the national Mom's for Liberty but generated right here in Williamson County. The mission of M4LU is to to inform, equip, and empower parents with knowledge, understanding and practical tools.
Help educate citizens of Williamson County
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