June Commission Meeting 2025

The ONE thing you need to know from this month's Sullivan County Commission meeting is that on July 10 they are having a work session on the proposed budget at 6 pm in the old courthouse in Blountville. Reassessment was done this year; most residential property was assessed significantly higher; residential assessments went up much more percentage-wise than commercial assessments; and all of this means that our property taxes will be increasing. And that is with the equalization rate of $1.61: The currently proposed tax rate to meet the budget is $1.70.

During the meeting, Commissioner King (chair of the budget committee) stated that the biggest increases were for the jail/sheriff's department and the highway department, and that there isn't much anyone can do about those amounts: most of that is mandated.  The increase in the highway department is largely the result of decreased input from the state. I have since spoken with Commissioner King and also done some research, and one reason for the decrease from the state is that the amount collected from the gas tax is down.  The last numbers available online are from 2021, so there is a grain of salt there since that would still be impacted by the pandemic, but since Commissioner King says that's still a thing, perhaps he has a point that increased fuel efficiency and electric vehicles have had this effect. However, the increased fee for electric and hybrid cars is supposed to offset this (there is no data on that that I can find). I'm trying to determine if there is also less ARPA (America Rescue Plan Act) money.

You can review the entire proposed budget in the June meeting minutes here, starting on page 111.

As you can tell from how many pages those minutes are, it was a busy meeting, other than just the budget, which wasn't even talked about. Normal business included appointments to the Building Commission, to the Utility District Commission, bonds for school personnel, and voting for a new Constable for District 6 (Bloomingdale). Dr. Gary Mayes was recognized with a day proclaimed in his honor upon his retirement from leading the Health Department for nearly 25 years. Minutes were approved, notaries voted on, and public comment was held.

The consent agenda, requiring unanimous consent to pass, was huge: Items 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,&13. I believe these were mostly financial housekeeping things that were required to square several things that had already been spent, primarily relating to schools. Items 10-13 were not originally on the consent agenda, and all the way at the very end of the meeting, Commissioner Glover made a motion to rescind the passage of Item 11, which had to do with increasing the mineral severance tax to $.20 per ton (this affects sand, gravel, sandstone, chert, and limestone). This motion did not pass, but it illustrated that so much business at one meeting is very confusing and difficult to fathom through even for those very familiar with the whole process. There were, in total, 23 Items on the agenda. Items 20, 21, and 22 were the budget, which was only passed out for information with no discussion.  All the other items on the agenda were voted on and passed. Again, you can read them all in the minutes here. 

The most obviously significant item on the agenda, other than introducing the budget, was Old Business, Item 1, which purchased, with the City of Bristol, TN, a building on Midway in which Sullivan County will open a Bristol office of the Health Department.

See you on the 10th!