A balanced budget… Elizabethton City Council unanimously approve 2019-20 fiscal year budget
Published 6:00 am Saturday, June 15, 2019
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
With all old business taken care of, the Elizabethton City Council had several items of new business to take care of including approval of the 2019-20 fiscal year budget as the council met in regular session Thursday inside the Elizabethton City Hall meeting room.
The council unanimously passed the budget in a 6-0 vote as Mayor Pro Tem Bill Carter presided in the absence of Mayor Curt Alexander.
Two notable increases were touched upon as the property tax rate increased in the budget by 6 cents to $1.85 per $100 of value while there will also be an increase in sanitation fees.
Residential garbage fees saw a $3 increase from $10 to $13 and the bulk container fee also increased from $21.85 per container per collection to $25 per container per collection.
Also, a section was created to set the fees for dumpster rental fees of eight-yard dumpsters to a rental rate of $40 per month.
Councilman Jeffrey Treadway felt it was important to disclose why the tax rate increase was necessary.
“There are basically two reasons for the increase,” Councilman Treadway stated. “ One reason is the loss of revenue from the Hall Income Tax has hit us substantially, which is roughly around $400,000 in the last few years, so we lost a good amount of revenue.
“The other reason is the other two cents of the six cents will go into our street budget-paving specifically. I think that everyone can see the results of our paving program and we want to be able to continue with that.”
Councilman Michael Simerly also clarified what residents could expect from the 6-cent increase.
“To the average homeowner, the rate increase on a $100,000 home will be an accessed increase of $15 per year.”
Regarding the increase on sanitation fees, Councilman Treadway once again felt it necessary to disclose as to why the increase was needed.
“We have not increased this fee in 10 years since it was started and everyone knows that you can’t purchase the same thing today at the cost it was ten years ago,” said Councilman Treadway. “The other reason is at the time this enterprise fund was set up, it did not include bulk pickup or brush and loose leaf, so in order to put all sanitation activities within its own fund, it is necessary that we do this now at this time to balance.”
Councilman Simerly added, “If you check rates, county rates for trash pickup I think is between $15 and $17 based upon the carrier you use and that’s only for trash – that doesn’t include debris or leaves or anything else.
“So with the rate, the city will obviously still be competitive at that rate and that’s not even talking about Bristol which is about $35. We had to raise rates because we are running at a deficit.”
The council also unanimously passed the 2019-20 fiscal year budgets for the Elizabethton City Schools, the Elizabethton Municipal Airport, and the Elizabethton Municipal Golf Course.
In other business, the council also approved an agreement with SORBA-the Southern Off-Road Bicycles Association on developing the bicycle trails owned by the city in the Hampton watershed.
Wes Bradley representing SORBA addressed the board regarding the agreement.
“This agenda item represents about a year and a half of work,” Bradley stated. “We have a volunteer trail system that was built over two decades ago and expanded upon in the watershed in Hampton.
“The city has paid nothing for this over the years and it has all been handled by volunteers that have a passion for trails.
“It’s a multi-use trail. The outdoor recreation industry is growing leaps and bounds and we are setting in a jewel of that and the more we can capitalize on that, the more we are going to grow in a way that we have never had before.”
Bradley added that in this area, multiple activities could be done in one day.