The called Union County Budget committee meeting on June 7 yielded a balanced budget to recommend to the Union County Commission on June 14.
Commissioner Larry Lay chairs the committee with Jody Smith, Kenny Hill, Earl Cox, Janet Holloway, Dawn Flatford and Becky Munsey as members.
Mayor Jason Bailey informed the committee that after the May Union County Commission meeting, he received notice that all elected officials were to receive a two percent raise. This increase pushed the shortfall to a little over $359,000 instead of the approximately $330,000 gap at the end of May.
Therefore, the budget committee rejected the 101 General Fund Budget Proposal as its first order of business and proceeded to review and vote on each department separately.
All votes went smoothly until the sheriff's budget. Increases in the sheriff's budget accounted for almost two-thirds of the overall budget increase. Commissioners questioned the procedure for verifying comp time as well as who would oversee the overtime. Then they wanted to know about the increased cost for the food at the jail.
Finally, the sheriff's budget was accepted with only Cox voting against. But the vote on the jail operations received negative votes from Cox and Lay.
Fire prevention proved to be the next snag in balancing the budget. Flatford voiced her concern that fourth district had no fire protection, no community center, no money for anything. Lay recommended that the $3,000 increase for Northeast Union Volunteer Fire Department and the $10,000 proposed for Maynardville Fire Department be cut from the budget. This action would leave $22,000 each for the Luttrell Volunteer Fire Department, Northeast Union Volunteer Fire Department, and Sharps Chapel Fire Department. This motion was approved with only Smith casting a dissenting vote. The rescue squad would also receive $22,000 in another line item.
Again the discussion and approvals proceeded without interruption until the library board budget came up for discussion. The Union County Library Board had requested an additional $15,000 to cover increased operating costs and salary increases.
Munsey questioned why librarians should receive county benefits if they are not county employees. Finance Director Ann Dyer stated that librarians are to receive the same benefit package as other county employees under the Tennessee Standards for Public Librarians where it addresses salaries and benefits.
Munsey also noted that her research revealed that the hourly pay for similar services was about the same in Grainger and Union counties. The committee cut the increase and set the budget for the Library Board the same as last year.
The final cuts came under the donations to nonprofits. Smith moved to remove the Union County Historical Society, the Union County Heritage Festival, and the Union County Opry from the General Fund and place their funding in the hotel/motel tax expenditures. This action was approved, and resulted in a decrease for the proposed general fund of $19,000.
Smith proposed cutting the $8,000 request of the Union County Historical Society to $2,000 in order to recover legal costs due to the lawsuit brought by the society. The motion passed with Cox voting against the motion and commenting that the museum probably could not open its doors.
After several committee meetings and hours of budget hearings, the budget committee cut a total of approximately $50,000 and approved some $300,000 in increases. The budget with the changes passed and was recommended to County Commission with the current tax rate since the current funding would cover the increases.