County Commission and School Board to determine status of ad valorem tax for schools

The Greene County Commission met in regular session, Tuesday, October 14, 2025 with all Commissioners present. The October meeting was scheduled for the second Tuesday, since the second Monday was National Indigenous Peoples Day, a holiday observed by Greene County.
At the Commission’s work session, held Wednesday, October 8, Ms. Marquita Lennon, CSFO of the Greene County Board of Education, presented a request for renewal of an ad valorem tax for the school system. Ms. Lennon indicated that the milage tax would expire in 2026 and the procedure for renewal required action from the county. This was an agenda item for the October 14 meeting, at which time Attorney Mark Parnell stated that according to his research, the milage tax was not scheduled to expire in 2026 because it was attached to a bond. Commission Chairperson, Garria Spencer, recommended that the Attorneys for the county and the school board communicate and bring clarity to the issue by the next commission meeting.
The Commission approved a recommendation by Ms. Altheria Wilder, CFO for Greene County Commission, that CD investments, currently at Pinnacle Bank in Birmingham and scheduled to expire, be transferred to Merchants & Farmers Bank for better interest rates. She noted that Pinnacle offered 3.5 interest rate; Merchant &b Farmers offered seven month CD investment at 4.5 and 13 month CD investment at 4.25. The total CD investments approximately $625,000.
In other business the Commission acted on the following items.
* Approved hiring grant writer, Marilyn Culliver. Attorney Parnell will prepare contract.
* Approved painting the Activity Center.
* Advised staff to follow-up on replacing doors and glass at Activity Center.
Approved the School Resource Officers contract.
Approved the Supplement Agreement with Sheriff Benison, regarding the sheriff’s payment to the county for additional employees in his department.
Approved the SSUT Resolution – Alabama Simplified Users Tax.
The Commission approved various board appointments and re-appointments.
Commissioner Corey Cockrell recommended the following persons from District 3:
Ms. Shirley Edwards re-appointed to the Hospital Board; Ms. Kimberly Tyree appointed to the Greenthumb Board; Ms. DeCharo Rice appointed to the PARA Board; Ms. Vivian Carpenter appointed to the DHR Board.
At Commissioner Tennyson Smith’s request, the Greenthumb board position for District 2 was tabled, as well as Commissioner Roshanda Summerville’s DHR board position for District 5.
At the request of Commissioner Smith, Ms. Geraldine Walton was appointed to the Greene County Mental Health Board.
The financial snapshot for the period ending September 30, 2025: General fund claims paid totaled $861,905.62; Payroll Transfer total $299,112.48; Fiduciary totaled $38,079.45. Electronic Claims paid August 2025 totaled $94,482.87. Citizen Trust Bank unrestricted funds totaled $1,098,587.31; restricted funds totaled $4,485,946.84. Merchant & Farmers Bank unrestricted funds totaled $2,015,221.86; restricted funds totaled $2,799,038.82. CD investments totaled $1,901.457.80.
In the Public Comment session of the meeting, Mr. Michael Williams, former Greene County Commissioner, gave an emotional reaction to the current State Audit of the Greene County Sheriff’s operations. Williams emphasized that the nearly $5 million the State Examiners of Public Accounts reported has no documentation and must be refunded by Sheriff Benison could have been used to support local services such as the hospital, school system, fire departments, emergency services and others. He asked Greene County residents to sign a petition which will be sent to the Alabama Attorney General’s office for legal action.
Commission Chair Spencer and Attorney Parnell emphasized that the recent State Audit Report involves only Sheriff Benison’s operations; the audit has nothing to do with the County Commission’s operations.