The city of Soddy-Daisy passed its general fund budget for fiscal year 2018 at its Thursday, June 1 commission meeting. The $12,584,230 total is about an 11 percent decrease from fiscal year 2017's $14 million budget.
Finance Director Burt Johnson explained that the FY 2017 budget was higher than normal because it included the full $5 million cost for two major federal highway projects in the city, which he expects to be complete by the end of 2017. The projects comprise the resurfacing of Dallas Hollow Road, and the extension of the turning lane on Dayton Pike from the Walmart area near the intersection with Harrison Lane, north to Pottery Lane near the Daisy Church of God Ministry. Only about $1 million was spent on the project in the last fiscal year, and the remaining $3.8 million is included in the 2018 budget.
The budget for FY 2017 also included a 1.5 percent pay raise for city employees, while this year's budget does not include a raise. The FY 2017 budget was also amended to account for a grant the city received for the purchase of air packs for the Fire Department, the $92,000 cost of which had been included in last year's budget.
Major expenditures for FY 2018 include a patrol car and prisoner transport van for the Police Department, at $36,000 apiece, as well as $36,900 for new police radios and $108,000 for fire radios. The city is also purchasing equipment for its Public Works Department, including a backhoe for $120,000, a mini excavator for $52,000 and two mowers for $40,000, according to Johnson.
The budget - which does not require a tax increase - was passed on an interim basis, pending the city's receipt of the certified rate from the Hamilton County assessor of property that's expected in July. Property value reappraisals, required by the state every four years, determine the certified tax rate.
City Manager Janice Cagle said a tax increase could still be imposed if the certified rate increases.