City Budget gains final approval, council also approves hotel/motel tax and derelict hotel's days are numbered

Crossville city council has approved the third and final reading of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and approved an unchanged tax rate at 59 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The first version of the budget presented to the council stood at $1.5 million red and with a number of items removed and a few other items added to the budget the final version came in at just over $1.1 million in the red. Because the city has over $12 million in the general fund balance, the city finances are not in the red but the annual expenditures exceed the estimated revenue for the fiscal year.

Crossville City Council, L-R, J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt,

Mayor James Mayberry, Pamala Harris, and Scot Shanks.

The city's budget shows revenue totaling $19,425,353 and expenses of 20,597,073 with a final deficit for the year of $1,171,720.

Budgeted spending totals for the Police Department stand at $4.1 million, the Fire Department at almost $2.9 million and the street department at almost $2.4 million. Those 3 department's expenditures make up nearly half of the city's general fund budget.

The city's water and sewer budget do not utilize tax funding and their revenue is from the sale of water and sewer service.

The property tax rate of 59 cents, unchanged from the previous year was approved under the consent agenda and the budget was approved unanimously during the meeting. A public hearing on the budget elicited no comments from the citizens.

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Council also unanimously approved putting the hotel/motel tax into place on hotels operating within the city limits. This would go on top of the county hotel/motel tax that has been in effect for a number of years. The city adds 2 percent on top of the 7.5 percent tax the county charges and all these fees are over and above any sales taxes.

Council approved the request of property owners along a block of Thurman Avenue to return the road to two way traffic. The road has been one way for several years. The road is somewhat narrow and the planning commission had not approved the change but the city council has the final say on the matter and it was approved with 4 votes in favor and council member Pamala Harris abstaining. The parking along the road will be left alone.

Council approved a reduction in the inspection fees for the construction of the new Crab Orchard School. The fee to the county would be $21,000 but instead, the city council approved charging the cost of the time and travel not to exceed $7,000.

Under the city attorney's report, Will Ridley reported to the council that the court had approved the city's request to demolish the condemned Inn of the Cumberlands at Tennessee Avenue and Sparta Highway. Ridley said he was not seeking council approval for that action yet as he was still looking into some property ownership issues.

Condemmed Inn of the Cumberlands

Under public comments at the council meeting, downtown property owner Shirley Hughes expressed concern about parking in the downtown area especially about workers using space all day that are in front of other businesses. Hughes said she felt that there needed to be a parking lot for workers, especially county courthouse workers that would not interfere with downtown businesses.   

Crossville City Budget just over $1 million in the red with another Council work session set for Thursday

The Crossville City Council will return to working on the upcoming fiscal year budget in a work session set for Thursday, May 17 starting at 5:15 PM.

Crossville City Hall

The meeting will be held in conference room 317 on the third floor of Crossville City Hall. So far the council has met twice in work session on the budget, looked at much of the budget and made some minor changes to general fund spending. In addition, the council has studied water and sewer fund budget and discussed non-profit funding as well. The work session is open to the public.

The city's budget currently stands at just over $1.1 million in the red but with over $10 million in the fund balance that level can be sustained. Last year's budget was approved with a $3.8 million deficit and the year will end with an estimated deficit of around $2 million in the red, about half the original number. A number of capital projects have been delayed and that funding is moved to the upcoming budget.

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For the 2018-19 fiscal year, General Fund revenue is estimated at $19.4 million with expenditures just under $20.6 million.

Current budget spending totals for the Police Department stand at $4.1 million, the Fire Department at almost $2.9 million and the street department at almost $2.4 million make up nearly half of the city's budget. 

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Council also has a special called meeting set for May 24 and a public hearing that night on the city's capital improvement plan. No information on the agenda for the 24th has been released yet and is not expected until next week.   

Crossville Council takes first crack at 2018-19 budget with a hard look at public safety items

During a recent work session, the Crossville City Council began its work on the 2018-19 fiscal year budget and will meet again to discuss it further on Thursday, April 10 at 5 PM.

The three-hour work session spent most of the time on the budget discussion and the budget information was provided by city manager Greg Wood and finance director Fred Houston.

Council members discuss the 2018-19 budget.  

L-R are Danny WYatt, Pamala Harris, Mayor James Mayberry,

J.H. Graham and Scot Shanks.

As the council began to review the budget, it stood at approximately $1.5 million in the red and the additional revenue from the proposed city hotel/motel tax was discussed. The city originally asked for a 3 percent tax but the bill was amended in the General Assembly to reduce the tax down to 2 percent. Before the new tax goes into effect, it must be signed off on by state officials and the Governor then receive a super-majority approval vote by the council as well.

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Council is looking at using the estimated $184,000 a year additional revenue from the hotel/motel tax to help fund part of the marketing department's budget, some of the money to the chamber of Commerce, expenses of the new Sports and Event Authority and possibly in the future some of the donation to the Cumberland County Playhouse.

The other proposed charter change to increase the number of city council members from the current 5 up to 7 members is also in the approval process without requiring a referendum. If the paperwork is received in time from the state legislature and receives a super majority council approval additional council seats could be on the November 2018 city election. If the new member elections make it on the November Ballot, the mayor and four council seats would be elected according to city attorney Will Ridley. He added that the elected council member in fourth place would only serve an initial 2-year term to even out the staggering of the future elections.

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Council also discussed the current fiscal year's budget that was originally estimated to be some $3 million in the red but because a number of projects have not moved forward due to outside issues and delays as well as other savings, Crossville finance director Fred Houston says the current budget should finish up June 30 with only a $1.5 million deficit.

Many of the capital items in the current budget will be moved into the new budget and according to discussions, the city still expects to maintain a $10 million fund balance at the end of proposed the 2018-19 budget.

Much budget discussion took place on public safety including police and fire protection. The city police department has had much turnover in the last 12 months and is having some difficulty in recruiting new officers for the force. Council discussed whether the problem was salary, benefits or something else. Chief David Beaty said that They had lost officers to other departments including Cookeville. He said even if the pay was raised Crossville could still not compete with Cookeville due to the retirement benefits and a bridge program.

Human Resources director Leah Crockett had researched through MTAS similar sized cities and what their department paid and the city of Crossville pay rate was behind those departments. An increase in the rate for the police department was discussed for across the board increases for all in the department except the chief and the three captains salaries. The increases will be determined before the budget is finalized.

Manager Wood said that even though the sheriff's office and some other area department's pay less they do not have the same officer retainage problems Crossville does.

The Fire Department was requesting a number of new items and safety equipment including pagers for volunteers, a so-called bailout kit and a second set of turnout gear. The bailout kit, according to Assistant Chief Chris South is worn under the firefighter's turnout gear and acts as an emergency rappelling system to exit a structure from the second floor or higher without just jumping.

Said South, “We've really taken a safety initiative approach this last year to try and prevent the unthinkable.” The department has 30 full-time personnel and about 15 volunteers.

The purchase of new turnout gear at $155,000 was discussed and South explained that due to the carcinogens that fire personnel are exposed to at a fire the current recommendation is that each man has a second set of turnout gear so one can be cleaned before it is used again to reduce that exposure.

Councilman J. H. Graham expressed concern about the rising cost of the fire department's budget saying it had risen $500,000 in the last 3 years to an annual operating budget of $3 million. He added the city is providing better service but he asked to have the additional turnout gear line and operating supplies both reduced by half to reduce the overall budget by about $100,000.

“We've done an awful lot for the fire department in the last 2 and a half years,” added Graham, “and we've got some other departments that need some help.” In addition, the city has two new firetrucks ordered as well.