The bottom line here is that the full Commission discussed the proposed budget and the proposed property tax increase of $.09 from the equalization rate, and it looks like they will come to the Commission Meeting this week with a proposal for a $.05 rate increase instead. The PUBLIC COMMENT will begin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 17.
Where exactly the cuts from the proposed budget are going to come from, I'm not clear on. There is a substantial amount of money budgeted but not spent during the year that is turned back in which can come into play. Also in play is taking any shortfall out of the General Fund.
Several individual commissioners had issues with certain specifics, most of which I honestly don't know enough about to understand. Commissioner Slagle asked why anything was in the budget for NETTA (Northeast Tennessee Tourist Association) when that is supposed to be user fee funded, but my understanding would be that EVERYTHING, all spending, must be addressed within the budget.
Many commissioners defended the highway department budget and Scott Murray, saying what an excellent job he has done with the department and that the department and the county's roads are in a good place. They also highlighted what bad shape it had been in some years ago, with too many employees and broken down equipment. Commissioner Ireson stated that the sheriff's department had also helped to hold their budget request down by not hiring employees needed for the new jail before October.
There was an interesting exchange among Commissioners Cross, Vanover, and Locke about first responders. Again, I'm not intimately familiar with all this, but it seems that Sullivan County contributes an equal fixed amount to each station. The cities pay the first responders in the cities, and the cities contribute to the budgets of those stations. The county stations are 501-C3s: their budgets are smaller, and they are not county employees. The proposed budget provides additional funding to raise these folks' pay. Commissioner Cross had worked on a five-year plan that equalized the funding among the stations and objected to this no longer being equal. Vanover and Locke held the position that the increase in funding was only for payroll for these stations and didn't impact the 5 year plan. Vanover said, "$12/hr. is not a living wage."
Another major discussion was about employee pay raises. All commissioners except Cheryl Harvey were in favor of providing the 5% raise to all county employees that was in the proposed budget, citing retention, skill, and increased cost of living. Commissioner Harvey repeatedly questioned whether this was fair to taxpayers, since the Consumer Price Index has not increased that much, and increases in health insurance costs would also not eat up all that pay raise. Commissioner Vanover observed that the county couldn't find employees several years ago, but doesn't have that problem now because of the wage increase. Commissioner Ward pointed out that county employees don't live in gated communities as Commissioner Harvey does.
Another point that was made throughout the meeting was that on a tighter budget, no one should be bringing items to the commission during the year that require additional funding. New EMS stations and recycling centers were needed, but money for those things won't be in this budget. Commissioner Akard commented that he didn't want to see the county need to borrow money to cover the budget as was needed in 2015, and Commissioner King opined that the budget and the county would "be ok if everything goes well." Commissioner Glover commented that the school system hadn't asked for anything this budget year, but they would be coming in the future.
Before adjournment, Commissioner Gardner expressed his appreciation for the tone of the meeting, despite its difficult subject matter.
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