Budget season is well underway as the Board of Mayor and Aldermen has passed the first reading of the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

In its special-called meeting that took place on Monday, June 1, the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously approved the first reading of the city budget, which sits at $$41,215,807, which is about a 1.6% increase over the current fiscal year budget. Per state law, municipal budget ordinances must be passed on three readings. The city board will vote two more times to approve the budget, allowing time for any amendments to its appropriations on the second and third readings. Those readings will take place in later meetings in June.

Prior to the first reading of the budget, the board held several study sessions to provide an opportunity for the board members to gain more familiarity with the budget process and to be able to discuss current departmental programs, accomplishments, upcoming goals and needs with staff and administration, as well as give organizations and departments opportunities to present budget requests.

According to the first draft budget document, the FY27 budget includes $3,570329 for “general government” appropriations, $5,895,588 for the police department, $4,112,525 for the fire department, $4,647,597 for the public works department, $3,455,138 for the parks and recreation department, $14,176,435 for Tullahoma City Schools, $265,000 for the Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation, $176,000 for the Tullahoma Municipal Airport, $667,518 for other agencies, including tourism and cultural organizations and community service organizations, and another $1,831,575 allocated for debt service.

The draft budget also anticipates $33,668,986 in local tax revenues, $4,897,202 in “intergovernmental” revenues, $334,900 worth of revenue from licenses and permits, $716,369 from fees and fines, another $834,000 in miscellaneous revenue and $764,350 to be used from reserves with no tax increase.

In addition, the proposed budget also highlights the city’s commitment to infrastructure improvements, including $1.5 million towards paving as part of the city’s ongoing 20-year road replacement plan. The proposed budget also includes a 3% cost of living adjustment for employee salaries.

As for the property tax rate, FY2027 is a property reappraisal year in the county, so the state has provided only a preliminary certified tax rate. The tentative certified rate is projected to decrease from $2.1532 to $1.5648 per $100 of assessed value for all real and personal property for both Franklin County and Coffee County residents of Tullahoma. The preliminary rate has been incorporated into the ordinance and will be updated if the state’s final certified rate differs.

Before the first reading of the budget was approved, Alderman Kurt Glick presented two changes to the budget, noting that he thought it wasn’t appropriate to wait until the third reading to make changes, and would rather make changes in the first two readings instead.

The first item Glick brought to the board was bringing the Coffee County Senior Citizens Center into the fold of the city under the Parks and Recreation Department. He said if the board passed the budget and fund the senior center like it has for the last several years, the senior center would continue to be on life support.

“When something stays on life support long enough, it eventually will die,” Glick said. “I think what we need to do is find a way to save the patient. I think the way to do that is for the city to take over these operations.”

Glick said the board and city have talked about the senior center in the past and asked City Administrator Jeff Damron for comment. Damron said Parks and Rec Director JP Kraft has started talking with the center’s staff and management. He added that the city is working on some programs with the seniors and noted some maintenance issues, which the facility is owned by the city.

“It’s certainly not going to save any money, but we could enrich and enhance the offers to seniors of Coffee County and Tullahoma.”

Kraft echoed Damron’s sentiment about enriching the center and allowing the program to flourish if Parks and Rec took on running staffing for the front desk, and adding custodians and maintenance to the building.

“It would just enrich kind of the recreation system,” Kraft said.

Damron told the board that Kraft will bring more information about the senior center to the next meeting.

The second item Glick presented to the board was to allocate half the funding from the Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce to the Tullahoma Sports Council. This action would decrease the chamber’s funding from $47,045 to $23,522.50 and bump the Sports Council’s funding to $23,522.50. The funding comes from the tourism part of the budget, which is funded through the hotel/motel tax, and the Sports Council was one of several organizations that were cut from receiving funds last year.

Alderman Busch Thoma interjected and stated he was against Glick’s motion, as he didn’t know what the Sports Council’s contribution to the city would be that would make taking money from the chamber justifiable, noting that the Sports Council’s only fundraiser is its annual Hall of Fame banquet.

“Virtually, (the Sports Council) took the city’s money and gave it back to the city,” Thoma said. “They don’t have any fundraisers. They don’t do anything to speak of to generate on their own additional income.”

Glick responded to Thoma and said the Sports Council did more than its annual Sports Hall of Fame banquet, highlighting that the council helped to bring sporting events, like youth sports tournaments, to Tullahoma, which in turn brings in visitors to the city.

“The Sports Council enhances those efforts,” Glick said. “That sports tourism brings a lot of people to town to stay at hotels, buy gas, etc.”

Thoma responded and said he felt it would be inappropriate to give money to the Sports Council without pure justification in numbers to show that it was covering at least their cost. Glick responded and asked if the board had that from the chamber of commerce, adding he didn’t know what tourism enhancements the chamber provided. Thoma said it wasn’t necessarily all tourism, and that the chamber is dealing with and recruiting people and businesses to Tullahoma.

“They’re the first line when people come to this community,” Thoma said. “They’re the door opener.”

Mayor Lynn Sebourn spoke and said he was not against considering giving funding to the Sports Council through the hotel/motel tax; however, he had a huge issue with taking it away from the chamber to do so. He added that the chamber was the city’s primary organization for business development, helping build business, connecting businesses and building relationships with everyone.

“Removing this funding is going to damage an important relationship between city government and the entire business community in this town,” Sebourn stated. “I don’t think that we want to send a message that the city of Tullahoma does not want to support our businesses by cutting money to the chamber when we’re in a situation with the economy not being so strong.”

Sebourn added that the sales tax revenue projections for this year are down, noting this was happening everywhere in the country, and the last thing they need to do is weaken the business environment. He highlighted how the chamber helps support the business environment by holding multiple events a month for business leaders, as well as contributes to tourism by hosting several events during the year, including the annual Tullahoma Christmas Parade. Sebourn ended his comments by stating the budget could support both the chamber and the Sports Council without cutting the chamber’s budget.

Alderman Matthew Bird added that the city’s sales tax revenue makes up less than 40% of the budget, and the chamber helps to keep that supported through its mission and networking events.

With no further discussion, the motion to reduce the chamber’s tourism money by half and give to the Sports Council failed 1-5, with Glick being the sole yes vote. Alderman Bobbie Wilson was absent from the meeting.