The three small municipalities outside of Chattanooga in North Hamilton County have presented their budgets for fiscal 2017. Budgets for Soddy-Daisy and Lakesite passed unanimously on first reading, with votes on the second readings approaching soon. Red Bank will vote on the first reading of its budget at its next commission meeting at City Hall Tuesday, June 7 at 7 p.m.
The general fund budget of the city of Red Bank is $6,292,330, an increase of $454,927 over last year’s amount, said Finance Director John Alexander.
He said the biggest changes from 2016 include the addition of $550,400 for improvements to the new City Hall building at 3105 Dayton Blvd. in the old Action Plumbing building. It will serve as the new location for the city’s court and administrative offices, and the old City Hall will be used by the Police Department.
Also, the Fire Department is scaling down the number of part-time firefighters it uses in favor of hiring four more full-time firefighters, which Alexander said will cost the city approximately $40,000 in health, dental and life insurance costs. If the Fire Department did not add the full-time positions, the city would need to close Fire Hall No. 2 to make up for the cost of providing health insurance to part-time firefighters working more than 35 hours a week, said Fire Chief Mark Matthews.
The proposed budget does not include a pay increase for city employees, though longevity pay for employees is included at a cost of $18,400. City Manager Randall Smith explained at the commission’s May 18 work session that longevity pay is awarded to longtime employees for their commitment to the city, and each employee can receive a maximum of $1,000 each year. Commissioners can vote on whether to continue to offer longevity pay on an annual basis, he added.
LAKESITE
The general fund budget for the city of Lakesite is $1,048,524, a 1-percent increase over last year’s budget, said City Manager David Edwards.
He said the increase is a result of the inclusion of funds to match a state grant awarded to the city for improvements to its downtown, as well as funds to make upgrades to City Hall: new paint, carpet and roof, and to expand the roofline of the maintenance building to create more covered space.
The property tax rate will remain at .235 mills per each $100 of assessed value, an amount which Edwards said has remained the same for many years.
Staff will receive an average raise of 3 percent based on merit and equity, he said.
The second reading will be held at the commission meeting at City Hall June 21 at 7 p.m.
SODDY-DAISY
Soddy-Daisy’s fiscal 2017 budget of $14,180,800 is very close to the 2016 budget of approximately $15 million, said Finance Director Burt Johnson.
Major expenditures include $5 million for a federal highway project and $60,000 for two patrol cars for the Police Department. The city has requested a grant to cover the purchase of air packs for the Fire Department, but since such grants are difficult to get, Johnson said the $92,000 cost has been included in the budget. Also included is a 1.5-percent pay raise for city employees.