Give and Take as Budget Committee Climbs Out of the Hole
Staff Photo by Jeff Depew
Members of the Jefferson County Budget Committee spent much of Monday evening, May 1, 2017 hearing from County Department Heads appearing before the Committee to plead their case for funding. Committee Members entered Monday’s meeting more than $1 million dollars in the hole but before the final gavel they had trimmed the deficit to just shy of $600,000 denying around $437,000 in budget requests. While Committee Members face some mandated increases and chose to include a 1.4% cost of living raise for County employees in the fiscal year 2017/18 budget, other requests from Department Heads ranged from additional employees to replacement vehicles.
The Committee largely appeared willing to compromise with requests from the high dollar departments such as the Jail, Emergency Medical Services and E-911, with the three departments falling short of their requested level of funding but still getting a large enough increase to partially fill needed potions and to address some equipment needs such as ambulances. EMS will see a $186,487 dollar increase over the current fiscal year, with the money slotted to shore up an aging ambulance fleet. Committee Member McGraw, who made the motion for the increase ($90,000 short of the requested amount), acknowledged that the bulk of the EMS budget is generated through insurance recovery, with only $1.4 million of the $4.5 million dollars that it takes to operate the department coming from tax payers. His motion was 2nd by Committee Member Douglas and unanimously approved. E-911 is a separate department and the budget for the current fiscal year is $526,129. There was a request for two additional employees which totaled with benefits around $105,000. McGraw made a motion to fund the cost of one position, which should bring the total budget in around $580,000. He was 2nd by Committee Member Huffaker and the motion passed 7-1 with Committee Member Baxley voting No. Jefferson County Sheriff McCoig brought a request for four additional guards for the Jail and one additional Registered Nurse for a total increase of $255,011. Committee Member Huffaker made a motion to fund two guard and the one additional Registered Nurse position for a total increase of $113,961. She was 2nd by McGraw and the motion was approved 7-1 with Seals voting No.
Committee Members approved 6-3 (Douglas, Scarlett, Carmichael voting No) to approve a request from the Solid Waste/ Sanitation budget that included an increase of $245,000 for equipment with a total increase, included uncontrolled items, of $290,000. The Committee also approved the Solid Waste Disposal Budget 8-1 with Scarlett voting No. Increased items for that budget included $179,024 which was largely consumed by principal and interest on a note. Discussion regarding the budget included a nearly $5 million dollar audit finding from the State of Tennessee for post closure costs. Questions regarding the reaction of the State to dipping into fund balance and increasing debt while facing a $5 million dollar deficit found no solid answers. Supervisor David Gaut informed the Committee that steps have been taken to re permit the landfill in hopes that increased longevity will positively impact the bottom line of the $5 million dollar deficit.
The Jefferson County Highway Department was funded at the requested amount minus $3,480 (Scarlett/ Beeler motion)which was a requested increase in salary for the Highway Commissioners. The motion to fund as amended was presented by Carmichael and 2nd by Committee Member Seals. Most other County Departments were funded as presented or with minor changes. The Committee also approved the proposed General Purpose, Federal and Food Service budget proposals from the Jefferson County Department of Education. The Department of Education did not request additional pennies on the property tax rate for funding but will receive the difference in the worth of a penny for the current fiscal year and the projected worth for the fiscal year 2017-18 which is around a $250,000 difference which was used to balance the budget.
The approximate tally of the cuts made by the Budget Committee are in the neighborhood of $437,883 leaving a deficit of a little less than $600,000. Committee Members still have to address requests presented by the Fire Departments. Should Fire Department funding come in close to level it will leave an estimated deficit of between $314,000 and $350,000 which is the equivalent of three pennies on the property tax rate. The Department of Education is expecting to roll over funds back into their fund balance and it is anticipated that funds will also roll over on the County side. Though the amount of roll over for the County and Schools in still up in the air, the Budget Committee has historically used those funds as an avenue to balance the budget and side step a property tax increase.
