ROBERTA NEE ADAMSStaff Writer

June’s Moore County Metro Council meeting opened to a full house, standing room only. Fire Chief Mark Neal announced at the beginning of the meeting that he had not counted the crowd, though he thought it may have been over capacity for the building, but he would not ask anyone to leave. However, in case of emergency he instructed the crowd as to which of the two exits to use. In retrospect, that could have been foreshadowing of the fireworks to come.

The focus of the crowd at that meeting was the second reading of the 2025-2026 budget. Though much of the crowd were teachers and educators, there were a number of people there who do not support the proposed budget, along with the property tax increase it necessitates. The public comment time was fairly equally divided between the two camps.

Of major concern to those against the tax increase is the issue of those on fixed incomes, and the likelihood of yet another tax increase next year. Walter Barnes took issue with his property appraisal changing from $78,500 to $161,000, which makes a substantial increase in his taxes. Regina Adcock questioned whether there may be an alternative to raising taxes and pointed out that as the 2023-2024 budget was deemed a “healthy” budget, why such an increase this year is needed. Brenda Russell, on a fixed income herself, asked why the county could not freeze tax hikes at some point for those on disability and fixed incomes as a reasonable option. This could enable some homeowners to keep their properties instead of being forced to sell when they could no longer afford their taxes.

A new wrinkle to the proposed budget was introduced by Budget Committee Chairman Gerald Burnett, specifically to add all county employees to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS). Though the cost figures for this move were requested months ago, they were only received a week prior to the council meeting, and proved to be higher than anticipated. The total cost would be $4,800,000, requiring retroactive fund contributions for employees from their initial date of hire to buy into the system. Retirement would only be available to full time employees who are actively employed as of the date of the plan going into effect.

Two payment options were discussed. One was to make an upfront payment of $1,500,000 with the remainder amortized over ten to twelve years, the other was an upfront payment of $1,100,000, again with the remainder amortized over the same time period. However, to fund this county leaders proposed adding $.10 into the general fund, $.04 from debt service and an additional $.06 to the tax increase.

Lower than area average pay scales and lack of a retirement program have contributed to employee attrition in the county, especially with the Sheriff’s office and EMS services. Mayor Sloan Stewart emphasized that the issue will still be actively pursued even if it is not passed currently. He has a meeting scheduled later in the week with municipal bond representatives to discuss funding for the plan. Both Burnett and Stewart agreed that they did not have all the answers to their own questions, as the information was so recently received and there could be other options for long term funding or alternative methods of financing the retirement costs.

Ultimately, the retirement issue was tabled due to concerns about the rushed timeline, lack of complete information, and refusal of council members to add to the tax increase. A majority vote is required to table an issue, but it takes a two thirds vote to bring it back to the table. The budget committee will return to the council later this summer with full information and funding options.

With the retirement issue tabled, the council then voted on the second reading of the proposed budget that includes a 18-cent tax increase. Before the vote, council member Darrell Richards asked that members behave in a civil and professional manner, citing name calling that had taken place in the previous month.

It passed, 10-5, with Shane Taylor, Houston Lindsey, John Taylor, Douglas Carson, Marty Cashion, Bradley Dye, Arvis Bobo, Amy Cashion, Dexter Golden, and Gerald Burnett voting in favor of the budget. Peggy Sue Blackburn, Greg Guinn, Robert Bracewell, Darrell Richards, and Jimmy Hammond voted against the budget. Houston Lindsey, John Taylor, Amy Cashion, and Marty Cashion all declared potential conflicts of interest due to their association with the school system, but declared their votes to be “in accordance with their obligations to their constituents.”

As business moved on, the council was to vote on the resolution for non-profit contributions. When the item was announced, Robert Bracewell commented aloud, “Why don’t we give away more of other people’s money?” Amy Cashion immediately called him out for the sarcastic tone he used. When he responded that it was a legitimate question Cashion pointed out the sarcasm and asked if he would like to recommend any other non-profit to which he would prefer to contribute. He had no such recommendations.

After the conclusion of business, Chair Amy Cashion asked whether there were any questions or comments from council members. Robert Bracewell took the floor to announce his opinion that Mayor Stewart and Budget Chair Burnett deliberately violated the state’s Sunshine law by intentionally conducting budget meetings without public notice. His issue was that a recent Budget Committee meeting had been recessed and the reconvened at a later date without public notice. Bracewell said, “It was my understanding the mayor advised you that recess was an acceptable means of halting a meeting and then continuing it again without providing public notice.” Mayor Stewart responded that he himself had posted the meeting on boards at both the courthouse and the county building. Bracewell insisted that it was not posted. Mayor Stewart vehemently disagreed.

Bracewell then questioned whether there was an ethics committee as provided for in the county statutes, contending that the same issue had occurred two years ago. He asked Chair Amy Cashion, “Who do I file this ethics complaint with because we’ve got a Budget Committee Chair attempting to conceal meetings multiple times at the advice of the mayor?” Cashion responded that it would be followed up later.

Moving on from there, Bracewell called out a council member by name saying that he noticed the council member’s household income had increased almost $7,000 under the new budget. Cashion again immediately stopped him, stating, “You’re not going to talk about personal income in this body. If you want to talk about ethics, that is a violation.” The crowd burst into applause at her admonishment. Budgets are public documents, but individuals’ names and salaries are not. Bracewell had reportedly been provided a copy of these in confidence, which he then posted to Facebook.

At this point Darrell Richards stood and gave his resignation from the council and walked out after wishing the council the best. The meeting adjourned shortly thereafter.