Five In Five, An Interview With Jefferson County Finance Director Langdon Potts

Jefferson County, Tennessee Director Of Finance Langdon Potts
Staff Photo by Jeff Depew

Budget Season is in full swing and Jefferson County Director of Finance, Langdon Potts, is front and center in the budgeting process. The Jefferson County Post caught up with Director Potts for a Five in Five interview about how the proposed fiscal year 2017/2018 budget is shaping up and what tax payers may be able to expect for the upcoming fiscal year.

1. I know that it is still early in the budgeting process but you probably have some idea by now what the budget picture is shaping up to look like. Give us a brief overview of where we sit currently.

Potts – “Several Departments have asked for increases. Good News is that sales tax is still up slightly year to date and the worth of a penny is up. Hotel/Motel tax and Wheel Tax look good, as well. Revenue side is positive but the expense side could be problematic.”

2. There was some good news this week when Property Assessor Susan Gass informed the Budget Committee that the worth of a penny has increased. There is also some disturbing news in regard a recent declining trend sales tax numbers though they are up overall. What does that mean to the average tax payer and how much impact will that have with the budget?

Potts – “Normal growth areas for the County are just like personal finances, medical, insurance, utilities, those type if things. The revenue from the sales tax and property tax increased worth help to off set those uncontrollable cost, which impacts how much property tax is need to cover the County expenses.”

3. During this week’s budget committee meeting there was a lot of discussion about non profits and there were some requests for increases. What does the picture for the non profits look like from your perspective and can the County afford to increase non profit funding?

Potts – “We really can’t afford any significant increase anywhere, be it non profit or anywhere else in the budget unless we want to raise taxes. We started the budget in the hole the last two years and this year we are just about even but the Budget Committee is looking at employee raises in addition to other increases and expenses. It will be around $177,000 for cost of living increase based on CPI and that comes out to more than a penny on the property tax.”

4. During the budget committee meeting you alluded to an overall increased funding request. Is that across the board on both the County and School side of the budget and will there be any roll over funds from the current fiscal year?

Potts – “Right now proposed increases are just on the County side. Schools right now are planning come in flat outside employee raises and that will be addressed when the BEP numbers become available and that will determine if they request an increase in funding. There will be roll over for a couple of reason. Growth in sales tax and other revenue and we don’t let the departments overspend so they are always within budget. We will have to wait to close out the year to know exactly how much will roll over but the financial structure is designed for their to be roll over funds, baring something going way off base.”

5. Every budget season there is discussion regarding establishing small, annual or bi annual property tax increases to keep up with increasing costs of uncontrollable items such as insurance. In your opinion, should the budget committee look at small incremental property tax increases on a regular basis to avoid larger increases and will there be a property tax increase this year?

Potts – “In my opinion we should rely on economic growth through sales tax and other revenue to cover our expenses. We should be able to manage our expenses during times of economic growth, like we are currently in now. Leave property tax increases to times when you cannot manage your expenses through other revenue. As far as a property tax increase, it is too early to tell. It will largely depend on the needs of Sheriff, EMS, Fire Departments, E-911. We will have to get further along in the process before we can get an accurate picture of what the bottom line will be.”

Thank You to Director Potts for the interview, especially during a busy budget season!