BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – After passing a budget that freezes this year’s spending at last year’s levels, members of the Sullivan County Board of Commissioners said Tuesday the county might need to pull its belt even tighter next year – particularly if the recession continues.
“We’ve got to look at everything,” said Commissioner Bill Kilgore of Kingsport, who sits on the budget committee. “I hope that we will be able to do some workshops that look at the department’s spending line by line.”
On Tuesday, the commission unanimously approved its $164.6 million budget for the current fiscal year, which started July 1. The spending plan keeps the county’s property tax rate the same at $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The plan also borrows $2.4 million from the county’s general fund reserves, freezes five unfilled positions and takes away an extra $250,000 that Highway Commissioner Allan Pope had hoped to include in the highway department’s asphalt fund.
Without that money, Pope said, his department will be able to pave only 10 miles of the county’s 900-plus miles of roads this year. State highway associations recommend that county highway departments pave at least 10 percent of their roads each year, Pope said.
Because of those spending cuts, Commissioner Sam Jones of Kingsport asked the commission to raise the property tax rate an additional three cents, which would bring in about $1 million worth of additional revenue for this year’s budget.
Jones said the extra money could be used to buy more asphalt, lessen the county’s dependence on surplus accounts and help the school system buy a communication tool that would inform parents of emergencies.
“It’s something that’s needed but it’s a cost to the school system,” said Jones, who didn’t want to the school system to pay for the new emergency notification system by cutting spending from another area in its budget or by borrowing money from reserve accounts.
But Jones’ motion failed for lack of a second. The retiring commissioner then voted against the spending plan, but after realizing he had cast the only opposition, he changed his vote.
During Tuesday’s discussions, a few county department heads objected to a rule included in this year’s budget that requires them to get permission from the budget committee before they spend money in their capital outlay accounts.
“Once the budget is approved then we should be able to make the expenditures as we see fit,” said Property Assessor Bob Icenhour, who accused the budget committee members of trying to micromanage his and other county departments.
But Commissioner Dwight King of Piney Flats, who sits on the budget committee, said the rule was necessary to ensure that department heads have enough money to make it through an entire fiscal year. King also said the committee has never rejected a department head’s request to use their capital outlay accounts.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
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