KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

The budget for the coming fiscal year passed its second reading Monday night following a vote from the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

The proposed FY24 budget includes priorities including Student Resource Officers (SROs) at all schools and to increase paving. The budget also has the current property tax rate of $1.9532 per $100 of assessed value for all real and personal property for both Franklin County and Coffee County residents of Tullahoma. During the second reading of the budget, the list of pending capital projects that are anticipated to continue in FY24 were added to the budget. The capital projects include projects for storm water, parks, streets, airport, sidewalks/greenways as well as the North Jackson streetscape, TUA Signalization, housing rehabilitation and more.

Alderman Jenna Amacher said she had a meeting with Finance Director Sue Wilson and Interim City Administrator Kenneth Pearson regarding the budget, and said from her understanding they were in a budget crunch this fiscal year, where they can spend more than what their anticipated revenues. She added she will not vote for a tax increase, and she said while the board may approve the nonprofit expenditures for this year, as there was not enough notice, she foresees for the next fiscal year that the nonprofit expenditures would need to be either be cut entirely or cut substantially to be able to accommodate for the SROs and other new expenditures that would be coming about this year. She also encouraged anyone who had ideas about how to generate that income or where to cut to reach out to her so she can present to the board.

“I’m not proposing to cut it this year but I may put it in the budget that it would be terminated next year,” Amacher said. 

As part of the second reading, BoMA needed to make a motion to amend the budget to include the additions as presented. Before the vote, Alderman Kurt Glick asked if the board should put off adding the funding for paving to ensure they had enough funding for new SROs without increasing the tax rate or dipping more into reserves.  

Per the annual budget ordinance No. 1594, this draft provides the same programs and services as the FY23 budget, and while it does utilize $641,000 in reserves to support the increased annual paving amount of $650,000, it did not add new personnel. It was also added that Gov. Bill Lee has indicated that he will be providing some form of grant funding for SRO’s, with $50,000 having been provided in the budget draft for continued over-time and part-time SRO services through the efforts of the current officers until the grant program is established.

Mayor Ray Knowis asked Wilson that if they will fund and staff SROs at the schools with current staff, and not new personnel, and she said that is the case. Glick followed up by asking if that is the long term and attainable, and that was one of the reasons the board will be holding a study session on Monday, June 19, to talk about some alternative ways to fund and make amendments to the budget during the third reading.

“We can amend the budget at the next meeting,” Pearson said. “That might be to take the paving out like you were discussing at the present time and adding it back in as we get the money in from the state. That state should be coming in but we cannot budget for something we do not have so until that happens we won’t be able to budget it.”

Pearson added there is only $25,000 in overtime that’s been put in the budget and $25,000 for a part-time position. He added that the police force will be strained to do so as they did in the last several weeks of the past school year. Glick said he was thinking that it was a strain when the police department has its duties to the city as well as adding the roles of SROs to that.

“We know that SROs are something we have to do, that’s not an option,” Glick said. “Paving is not an option either but that might be something that we might have to wait to afford that.”

Alderman Daniel Berry added that even if they cut paving, it will only help a little bit and said he likes the idea of coming up with a creative idea have funds for the budget to add new personnel for SROs, as they will not be the only municipality and school system eligible in the state.

After discussion, the board unanimously approved the second reading of the budget as amended 7 – 0. A study session will be held at city hall on Monday, June 19, at 6 p.m. for the board to go over the capital project plans and equipment. The final reading for the budget will take place at the Monday, June 26, BoMA meeting.