BRADY FLANIGANStaff Writer

Soon, the City of Tullahoma may find itself filling its persistent potholes with out-of-mint pennies. That’s to say that on Monday, June 2, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed its first of three readings to adjust its tax rate and budget for FY26—aimed largely at addressing crumbling infrastructure.

If the proposal is approved on the third meeting, June 23, property taxes would rise 20 cents, coming to a total of ~$2.15 per $100 of assessed value. Fifteen of those cents would be allocated toward road paving; five would be directed toward repairing or replacing municipal buildings—potentially a marker that a new, or at least revitalized, city hall is circling like a turkey vulture.

To hold back steeper tax hikes, the city would also pull around $939,000 from reserves to balance the general fund. If adopted, the budget would grant city employees a 2.4% cost-of-living wage increase, roughly matching the nation’s ~2.3% inflation rate from April 2024. Funds would also be set aside to replace fire department turnout gear and purchase new equipment and training for Tullahoma’s SWAT team. Commercial garbage rates may rise as well to reflect increased disposal costs, but this has yet to be allotted for. 

Tennessee law requires three readings before municipalities can adopt budget ordinances—allowing time for appropriation amendments and public comment. The next two hearings will follow BoMA’s normal schedule on June 9 and June 23. 

The system is structured such that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen may decide to vote down the proposed ordinance twice in a row, albeit this is uncommon, but as long as an approval is given by the third reading, the ordinance is codified.

Monday’s meeting was a departure from the usual serene, unanimous tone of the administration under Mayor Lynn Sebourn. Of the six board members present, two voted no—Alderman Kurt Glick and Alderman Busch Thoma. 

Alderman Glick outlined his apprehensions by saying, “As we’re contemplating this, I think everybody should know we just received the completed version of this budget like four days ago…with the ramifications that go along with it, that’s a very short time to come to a point where I want to vote yes.” In turn he requested an organizational chart, breaking down the structure of the city employees’ various roles and salaries in hopes of getting a more whole picture of its financial status.  

Mayor Sebourn’s retorted by saying, “to me the thing about that is even if we each individually had plenty of time to study…once we get in here and start talking amongst each other, we’re going to have to resolve things. That’s where the rubber really hits the road.”  

Alderman Thoma left his apprehensions fairly ambiguous until the following study session. Though still open to the public, study sessions are not streamed to Youtube via TUA’s channel TUALightTube and tend to carry a more informal tone than Board of Mayor and Aldermen meetings. Albeit still complex, his apprehensions stemmed from a more systemic skepticism of the city of Tullahoma’s financial policies, such as a worry about issuing grants too liberally to nonprofits before considering their contribution to the public good and not dedicating more time to find ways to streamline city departments. 

In many ways, Alderman Thoma and Alderman Glick’s no-votes are essentially symbolic, as they do not kill the ordinance and this is something that, for all intents and purposes, will have to be passed in some capacity. That does not necessarily correspond to a tax hike; however proceeding without one appears unlikely, given the tone of the board.

For reference, Zillow estimates the average property value in Tullahoma at roughly $286,000. Tennessee taxes residential property on just 25% of its appraised value, which means the average home would be taxed on about $71,500 of assessed value. The rate is higher for commercial properties. At the proposed rate of $2.15 per $100 of assessed value that would bring the average residential city property tax bill to approximately $1,539 per year—an increase of about $141 if the full 20-cent rate hike is adopted. These numbers, however, are extremely variable, and subject to amendment. For now, the potholes and the pennies are still here.