Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly’s office has proposed a $394 million operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1. The proposed budget includes a 3% raise for city employees and no change to the property tax rate.
A press release from the city characterized the raise as a necessary cost-of-living adjustment to retain staff while attracting talent to open positions.
“Park stewards, crew workers, firefighters and police show up to serve when there’s litter on the side of the road, a fire or an act of violence,” Kelly said in an emailed statement. “It’s our people who fill the potholes, pick up the recycling and plant the trees, and it follows that they represent by far the largest portion of this or any city budget.”
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While the proposed operating budget is about $4 million greater than the current fiscal year, there are notable cuts.
BUDGET TIMELINE
City Council will hold budget education sessions May 12-26.
A public hearing on the budget will be June 2.
The completed budget will be voted on twice — once on June 16 and again June 23.
The budget must be approved before the new fiscal year starts July 1.
The Chattanooga Police Department is set to have its budget cut by $3 million, though at over $95 million, the department would remain the highest-funded agency in the city. That was also the largest cut to a single department.
Parks and Outdoors would also see a loss of over $1 million under the proposed budget, down to $15.7 million.
The largest cut listed in expenditure summary of the mayor’s proposal, about $9.3 million, went to a category called agencies and quasi agencies. That includes entities like the Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, Enterprise South Nature Park and Community Haven, which would all have their city funding slashed — some completely — under the mayor’s budget proposal.
Chattanooga’s Fire Department saw the greatest proposed increase of any government agency, more than $4 million, for a total of $84.6 million. The agency is the second-highest funded in the city.
The largest increase listed in the expenditure summary is in the general government category, a $7.9 million jump for a total proposed budget of $29.4 million. That category includes funding for general purchases, city judges, the City Attorney’s Office, internal audits and the City Council.
Chattanooga mayor’s proposed budget includes 3% raise for employees, no property tax increase
Public Works is set to receive an increase of $876,032 from the current fiscal year, up to $52.5 million.
Altogether, safety and public works make up 59% of the proposed operating budget.
CARTA, which operates the city’s transit and parking services, also received a $750,000 increase, which would bring its budget to $8.4 million. The transportation agency is set to take over parking enforcement downtown over the course of the new fiscal year.
While the operating budget, as the name suggests, is to fund day-to-day operations in the city, a capital budget must be passed as well. That is for long-term assets like city-owned buildings and infrastructure.
Kelly’s proposed capital budget is for $167 million, which includes $10 million for paving roads and filling potholes. It also sets aside $5 million for the Wilcox Bridge replacement and over $3 million to the fire and police departments to repair and acquire both facilities and equipment.
In an emailed press release, the mayor touted hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings obtained by renegotiating the city’s cell phone contract with Verizon, using in-house labor for parks instead of subcontractors and cutting city initiatives and contracts.
“Everything from asphalt to steel costs more than it did a few years ago, sometimes much more,” Kelly said. “Identifying savings every year allows us to fund the investments that make us more efficient, such as fire equipment that helps keep insurance costs down for every property owner, and crime-fighting technology that allows us to solve serious crimes with a 94% clearance rate.
“It also enables us,” he added, “to address and enhance the infrastructure that allows us to drive, bike or walk to school, church and work from our homes.”
Contact growth and development reporter Raymon Troncoso at rtroncoso@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6317.