Marion passes budget on time; property taxes unchanged

File photo - Kimball Mayor David Jackson, right, and city attorney Billy Gouger attend a meeting in 2014.
File photo - Kimball Mayor David Jackson, right, and city attorney Billy Gouger attend a meeting in 2014.

JASPER, Tenn. - If the Marion County Commission has ever passed a new budget before the July 1 deadline, it happened long before any current commissioners can remember.

When the board voted unanimously to approve the 2015-2016 budget at its June meeting, longtime Commissioner Tommy Thompson indicated that was perhaps the first time in history county leaders had approved it on time.

County Mayor David Jackson said all county departments and offices submitted the required documents to complete the budget "in a timely manner."

"That's a great accomplishment for our county and our County Commission," he said.

The new budget includes increases for the county sheriff's department to pay for two new deputies and a couple of new patrol cars.

"We spent almost $168,000 in overtime [last year]," Jackson said. "That will cut back on overtime costs and it will create a better service for our citizens by having four officers on duty at a time."

The county will split the cost for three new school resource officers with the Marion Board of Education. Those officers will rotate among the elementary, middle and high schools in Whitwell, South Pittsburg, and Jasper during the upcoming school year.

"I think that will be a big plus for our school system," Jackson said.

The county jail will get more money, too, including $115,000 for medical-related expenses since inmates would have to be transported to Chattanooga now and accompanied by an officer at all times after Parkridge West closed its in-patient care services in April.

There were no across-the-board pay raises for county employees in the new budget, although convenience center workers did get a pay bump from $7.25 per hour to $8 per hour.

Jackson said 10 cents of every tax dollar would be designated now for infrastructure or capital projects. That fund currently gets about $300,000 each year, but with the increase, it is expected to more than double to about $660,000 per year.

The county's rural volunteer fire departments will share an increase in funding of approximately $35,000, and the county's donation to the Marion County Partnership for Economic Development, which oversees industrial recruitment, increased from $20,000 to $50,000.

By the end of the next fiscal year, Jackson said the county's fund balance is expected to be around $9.4 million.

Commissioner Don Adkins, the board's finance committee chairman, said he appreciated everyone's hard work on the budget.

The county's property tax rate, however, remains a point of contention.

The board voted 12-3 to keep the property tax rate at $2.1686 per $100.

Marion's tax rate has been a back-and-forth debate since the board voted to raise it 50 cents in August 2011 to overcome a $1.5 million budget shortfall and avoid a county government shutdown.

The board's finance committee recommended the county's property tax remain the same because indications are that state appraisers will lower property values across Marion in 2016.

Jackson said other county leaders from across the state are getting the same signals.

"If appraisals don't drop a whole lot, then we're going to really look at getting that property tax hopefully cut some next year," he said. "We don't want to cut it this year, and have to come back and raise it the following year because appraisals dropped too far."

Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.

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