Jackson City Council amends drug fund budget

JACKSON, Tenn. — Tuesday’s Jackson City Council meeting was a short one.

With no new agenda items, the meeting was over in 15 minutes.

However, the city council did approve multiple budget agenda items on second readings.

One of those is an amendment to the Metro Drug Fund for the Jackson Police Department.

According to Finance Director Bobby Arnold, the amendment was correcting an oversight.

The actual capital budget for the Metro Drug Fund would be $96,600, not the $30,550 they originally approved.

“It was already there. They just had to move it, so it’s an accounting measure, so they could do that so it adds to the overall capital budget revenues and expenditures,” Mayor Scott Conger said.

The recent budget failed to include the $66,000 they had acquired.

Arnold says the unit’s capital funding was left out when the city passed their budget in October.

So what are they actually buying with the money?

“Anything from computers, vehicles, firearms, ballistic vests, those actual assets that we had to purchase,” Mayor Conger said.

According to documents provided by city officials, the bulk of the budget will go towards the two new unmarked police cars, totaling $70,000.

The city council chose not to discuss the public-private partnership at the Tuesday meeting, and will instead hold a specially called meeting on the topic.