Chattanooga City Council unanimously approves 2017 operations budget

Chattanooga City Councilman Larry Grohn listens to a presentation on the city's wastewater infrastructure during an afternoon agenda session at the City Council building Tuesday, March 29, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The council voted Tuesday to withdraw its subpoena of District Attorney Neal Pinkston, which the council issued after Pinkston's refusal to appear before the council to discuss the city's violence reduction initiative.
Chattanooga City Councilman Larry Grohn listens to a presentation on the city's wastewater infrastructure during an afternoon agenda session at the City Council building Tuesday, March 29, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The council voted Tuesday to withdraw its subpoena of District Attorney Neal Pinkston, which the council issued after Pinkston's refusal to appear before the council to discuss the city's violence reduction initiative.

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The City Council on Tuesday gave a unanimous initial approval for a $230 million operating budget, which includes no tax increase, for Chattanooga.

Next week, the council will vote on the final passage of the 2017 operations budget, as well as vote on Mayor Andy Berke's proposed $80 million capital budget.

On Tuesday evening, the council voted 9-0 in favor of the budget, without making any amendments.

At an agenda session held earlier in the day, Councilman Ken Smith said he might request a $916,290 budget amendment to pay for 14 unfunded firefighter positions, citing safety concerns.

After the voting session, Smith said he reconsidered the measure after he talked with fire Chief Chris Adams on how to pay for the positions.

"Unfortunately, it looks like the allocations would still come from within the fire department's own budget," Smith said. "So, I certainly wouldn't want to take away from what they're currently providing in services for those positions."

At the same time, the fire department has 17 unfilled - but funded - positions that will be filled, he said.

"The administration assured me we would have an annual academy to help handle attrition and respond to the need of empty positions much quicker than we have been able to in the past," Smith said. "Those two things together alleviated my primary concerns about a lack of personnel resources within the fire department."

Mayor Andy Berke expressed praise for the unanimous budget vote by tweeting that the City Council showed leadership by voting "for a responsible budget that will make major investments in our community."

Council Chairman Moses Freeman took a moment to address the meeting audience after the vote.

"We do the best we can, and I don't say that apologetically," Freeman said. "We work hard and we look at all the issues."

Despite the across-the-board vote to approve the operations budget, some council members voiced concerns over funding for workforce development.

Councilman Jerry Mitchell said the he felt "a little unfulfilled," citing the need to do even more for workforce training.

Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said he had to take a look at the big picture when weighing his concerns over workforce development against other beneficial budgetary impacts upon his district and the city as a whole.

"I find several items in this budget which I find difficult to tolerate, but at the same time, the majority of this budget is a good budget," said Councilman Larry Grohn. "I've done my best to try to be supportive of this mayor and this administration."

Last year, Grohn cast the sole vote against the 2016 budget.

"[The council has the responsibility to pass a budget that is far-reaching for the whole community," Freeman said. "It can't think narrowly about one segment of the community."

Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow on Twitter @pleach_tfp.

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