The Tennessee Attorney General's office has ruled that the Hamilton County Trustee can charge cities a 1 percent commission for collecting local sales taxes, a service performed for free under a sales tax agreement that expired Monday.

Trustee Bill Hullander sent a copy of the agreement to the Times Free Press Monday afternoon.

Hullander had asked whether the county could charge one percent or two percent for this service, saying he received conflicting advice from the University of Tennessee's County Technical Assistance Service and other trustees.

Hullander said the county will bring in $500,000 from the collection fee, which will be charged to all cities and the county.

" ... In most counties, the county trustee would be entitled to a commission of 1 percent on the amount of local option sales tax funds the trustee receives ...," the opinion states.

Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.