Budget Committee Has Long Night with Little Action
Staff Photo by Jeff Depew
The Jefferson County Budget Committee got their first look at budget requests for the fiscal year 2016/17 on Tuesday evening, as non profits and capital projects presented their requests. Despite a lengthy meeting, few motions for action made it to the floor and most items were postponed. Budget Committee Members did give the nod to the Debt Service Budget, which came in at $7,590,647 for the next fiscal year. They also approved funding of Fire Departments, following discussion and a presentation from the Dandridge Volunteer Fire Department and the New Market Fire Department, both of which were requesting funding in addition to last year’s designated amount of $55,000 per department, which was the starting point for this year’s requests. Dandridge Volunteer Fire Department Chief Riley and Town Administrator Peagler appeared before the Committee to plead the case for an additional $25,000 of funding for sub station 2 stating that though the second station does not meet the criteria of a resolution for sub station funding that was adopted by the Commission several years ago, the call runs of Dandridge are not like those in other parts of the County and that 80% of the calls answered by Dandridge are in in the County. However, the County does not contribute additionally to the Dandridge Fire Department and city residents pick up the majority of the tab. Dandridge has six schools in their zone and services a large portion of the two interstates in Jefferson County. New Market requested an additional $55,000 for their new Strawberry Plains Sub Station and Frank Solomon spoke on their behalf. After much debate, Committee Member Gaut brought a motion to fund all Fire Departments at their previous funding level of $55,000 with the exception of New Market, which will receive a total of $80,000 ($55,000 for New Market and $25,000 for Strawberry Plains). Gaut was 2nd by David Seal and the motion passed 7-2 with Committee Members Kesterson and Blevins voting No.
Beyond a handful of County and school side budget amendments and the approval of the Debt Service budget, the Gaut/Seal motion was the only real action that was taken Tuesday evening. Several Committee Members questioned the reasoning behind the presentation of a Capital Projects budget that did not include any of the reported necessary repairs to the Department of Education Building, with some taking exception to what they view as a slow response time regarding the issue. County Facilities Supervisor David Longmire addressed issue stating that the DOE building was not on the Capital Projects request because it is still an item with the Facilities Committee. Committee Member Kesterson noted that the question of a County Complex has never been brought before the Commission to gauge if there is any interest in perusing the idea. Budget Chairman Scarlett stated that his concern is the amount of outflow that is currently going to rental space to house the Department of Education. Jefferson County Mayor Palmieri stated that most of the Capital Project requests were for buildings that are still occupied and that the Department of Education building is not occupied at this time and, as the County Complex concept is in committee, pending committee review only those buildings that were occupied were placed on the list. In the end, the Capital Projects budget was postponed until a three year projection, necessary to meet the stipulations of a Commission resolution, is presented.
Both the Boys and Girls Club and the Humane Society asked for an increase in funding for the upcoming fiscal year. The two clubs were the only traditional non profits that made the cut for funding during the previous budget season but both received substantial cuts. This time around they came asking for a least partial restoration of the funding cuts, with the Boys and Girls Club requesting an additional $20,000 to be added to last year’s $60,000 funding level for a total of $80,000 and the Humane Society requesting an additional $16,670 of funding for the next fiscal year for a total of $86,670. Though they were cut from the 2015/2016 fiscal year’s funding, the Senior Citizens Home Assistance requested $5,000 in funding for the fiscal year 2016/17. Commissioners Turner and Solomon appeared to be ready to give the Boys and Girls Club the nod for $80,000. However, their motion to approved was stopped short with a Motion by Kesterson to postpone until the Budget Committee has a better handle on natural increases that might impact the budget, such as insurance. Kesterson was 2nd by Musick and the motion for postponement passed 6-3. Although no budget requests were approved, the Committee did hear from the three requestees. Committee members were largely supportive or silent during the presentation from the Boys and Girls Club, but the Humane Society did not have as easy a presentation. Chairman Scarlett questioned the Humane Society’s decision to go before the individual municipalities and request funding, some of which was granted but impacted the contributions to the Animal Control funding, which is generally shared with the municipalities. Humane Society spokeswoman Ringa stated that it has been a long standing practice to go before the municipalities and request additional funding,as most of what is contributed to the County goes toward Animal Control. She said that the group did not request that the cities take the funding from Animal Control, but, rather, that they donate to the Humane Society in addition to their other contributions. Chairman Scarlett stated that it would have been appreciated if the group had informed the County that they were requesting funding from the cities. Ringa stated that it was simply in the course of regular fund raising and there was no expectation that it would impact the County funds. Senior Citizens Home Assistance also presented before the Committee.
Presentations from the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and EDOC were met with questions, largely from Committee Member Seal, regarding return on investment that the County is getting for the tax dollars that are contributed to both organizations. In regard to funding, for the 2016/17 fiscal year, EDOC is requesting the lion’s share of the Hotel/ Motel Tax, $280,000 which is $100,000 above their previous funding allocation. The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, in contrast, is requesting $65,000 which is $100,000 below their previous allocation. They are also requesting any additional funds that are left from the Hotel/Motel Tax after the EDOC and Chamber initial allocations. David Seal has a motion on the regular budget committee agenda and the full body agenda that could impact the disbursement of Hotel/ Motel tax funds. He requested that his motion be vetted and heard before any action is taken regarding the Hotel/ Motel Tax funds and the item was postponed in a 5-3 vote.
