When the Carter County Commission convenes on Monday, the members will debate the proposed budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year which includes a proposed 4 cent increase on the property tax rate.

According to information obtained by the Elizabethton Star from the Carter County Finance Department, each penny on the tax rate brings in $82,800 to the county, so an increase of 4 cents on the tax rate will generate $331,200 in new revenue.

While the proposed budget increases the tax rate from $2.45 per $100 of assessed value, the budget still falls short of funding all the allocated expenditures.

According to documents from the Finance Department, a total of $438,202.66 will have to be pulled from the county’s fund balance to cover expenditures in the General Fund portion of the budget. The Carter County Highway Department will also be operating at a deficit under the proposed budget, with $423,584 coming from the department’s fund balance. Using the Finance Department’s formula for the value of a penny on the tax rate, to completely balance the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the tax rate would need to be raised an additional 10.5 cents on top of the proposed 4 cent increase.

Among the rising costs the County faced during this year’s budget process was an 8.65 percent increase in the cost of employee health insurance.

The Budget Committee also approved a 1 percent raise for county employees. The Committee also provided funding for the Carter County School System to give a 1 percent raise to its para-professionals, which includes positions such as secretaries, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, janitors, and school nurses.

One segment of the county’s proposed budget that has garnered a lot of attention from elected officials and citizens alike is funding for the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter.

Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey, who until recently oversaw the Animal Shelter operations and budget, presented a request for $441,550.51 to the Budget Committee for the upcoming fiscal year. That request is more than double the allocation for the shelter during the 2016-17 budget process ($208,919.92). After debating the issue, members of the Budget Committee approved an allocation of $331,294.34 for the animal shelter.

A contract between Carter County and the City of Elizabethton regarding animal shelter funding stipulated that each government entity will pay for half of the operating expenses — which with the approved level of funding would put each share at $165,647.17. However, there has been a controversy between the two governments in recent months regarding that contract.

Earlier this year, Elizabethton City Council voted to renegotiate the contract. However Humphrey has told the County Commission on multiple occasions the contract between the City and County auto-renewed before that vote. The City and County each have copies of the contract with different dates on them, and each entity contends they hold the valid contract.

The Carter County Commission will meet on Monday, July 17, at 6 p.m. in the courtroom located on the second floor of the Carter County Courthouse.