Marion County Commission Chairman Gene HargisJASPER, Tenn. – Marion County commissioners this week approved a new budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year that includes heavy cuts and a 50 cent property tax increase.
Officials said the moves had to be made to overcome a $1.5 million budget shortfall and a county government shutdown.
“We are at a critical point right now,” commission Chairman Gene Hargis told the audience in a packed meeting room late Monday. “We’re basically broke. We’ve had to make cuts [in the budget] that are not good, including the monies we give to nonprofit organizations like our fire departments.”
In the past, the county distributed about $193,000 to its rural volunteer fire departments to help offset insurance and workmen’s compensation costs, officials said, but now all of that money has been cut.
“If we don’t [pass this budget], the state is going to pass one for us, and it’s not going to be very acceptable to anybody,” Hargis said.