Falling tax revenue, reappraisals leave Chattanooga budget in limbo

Declining sales tax revenues and not knowing how much of a gain in property taxes to expect from growth has city officials perplexed about when next year's budget could be completed.

Dan Johnson, chief of staff for Mayor Ron Littlefield, said Thursday that he has no idea when the final budget could be presented to the City Council.

"I'm not going to set a time frame on it," he said.

The city asked all departments for 5 percent cuts this year. Last month, the City Council passed an interim budget until September. That budget guides the city after the end of the fiscal year, which was June 30.

Mr. Johnson said city officials still had not received the reappraisals from the county, so they do not know how many more homes could have been placed on the tax rolls because of development. But he expects revenues to decrease and has started making contingency plans, he said.

"We're looking at areas we can reduce without cutting personnel," he said.

City Council Chairman Jack Benson said this week the council would have to make some "hard choices" when the budget comes before the full board. The city's finance department is trying to correct requested expenditures, he said.

"They just seem to be frustrated on getting expenditures down to revenue," Mr. Benson said. "The projected requests far exceeded the revenues."

Carol Berz, chairwoman of the Budget, Personnel and Finance Committee, said she has not heard anything about the budget.

"My sense is that's why they asked for the interim," she said. "They're trying to balance it."