No matter how you sliced it, Polk County Commissioner Edwin V. Smith opposes spending $855,586 to outside agencies. He was supported in that opposition by Commissioner Bob English, whose tone was more conciliatory. They were outvoted 3-2 on the matter when it came before the BOCC at its Sept. 18 public session.

Most of the discussion on the topic came from Commissioner Melony Bell. Since
the Sept. 6 public meeting, and the
Sept. 13 meeting in which the FY2012-2013 budget was approved, dispute over how much money should go to the local SPCA arose. Bell was in favor of drastic cuts while English pushed funding remain intact for that agency.