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After making cutbacks to the 2026 fiscal year budget in a special workshop on Monday, the Decherd Board of Mayor and Aldermen settled on a 40-cent property-tax increase in its final two voting rounds.

The budget is balanced at $3.99 million.

The board approved the first reading of the budget, which included a 40-cent property-tax increase, on June 18 with the second and third votes taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. All three versions were unanimously approved.

The first budget version called for cutting four firemen and three police officers. However, the board agreed to set the total at three firemen and two police officers in the second and third versions.

The board was wrestling with an $800,000 shortfall but was able to reduce the deficit to $676,000 with half that amount set to be amortized from cutbacks with the remainder of the difference coming from the property-tax increase.

A 40-cent hike will increase the property taxes on a $100,000 home from $247.50 annually to $347.50 — an even $100 or $8.30 added to a monthly mortgage.

Fire Chief Chuck Williams said the cutbacks will affect his department with his full-time staff being reduced from 13 to 10 firefighters.

“It’s going to affect the community and the security,” he said. “The citizens are going to be affected by this. This is nothing but a mess.”

Police Chief Kenneth Griffin echoed Williams’ assessment about having problems with the staff cuts. He explained he has 16 employees, which will be reduced to 14 with the cutbacks.

“I accept it, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s up to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

“I’m not happy about it, and I fear for the people who will lose their jobs.”

Griffin said the community well feel less secure, and their insurance ratings will probably go up because the reduced staff will spell less coverage overall, which leads to higher protection rates.

Mayor Mary Nell Hess said the positions being cut were added in recent years, and the reasons the employee base was expanded no longer have the merit they once did.

She said the Fire Department has 13 full-time employees and seven part-time workers. She explained that when she was elected as an aldermen several years ago, there were six full-time firefighters.

“It’s ridiculous,” she said, referring to the deemed need for the additional personnel.

Hess said the staff increase was done so that Fire Station No. 2 could be fully manned. However, that never happened, and the additional personnel who were added were never necessary, she said.

Hess said the two police positions were added to fill as many vacancies that had loomed on the horizon.

However, the two officers who were expected to leave remained on the force, and the two who were hired were never needed in the first place, she added.

Griffin said the staff reduction will mean having two officers instead of three on duty per shift.

Hess said that Decherd, with its close proximity to other cities with strong emergency mutual-aid agreements, is very well-protected.

Two members from the audience aired their opposition to the staff reductions at the workshop Monday and cited the insurance-increase concerns. One said it was unfair to let an employee go after they had given up a great deal to take the job.