County’s budget agenda remains packed

Funding hikes before panel today

The County Commission’s budget and finance committee will sit down today to a full plate, with Shelby County’s operating budget, pleas for more education money and increase requests from the county’s other elected officials still up for debate.

The committee will also consider the county’s capital improvement program budget and a resolution to shift half of wheel tax revenues from education debt to education CIP funding. Some commissioners, as well as the school board, would like to see all of that money go to education operations.

County schools officials have asked for a $35 million budget increase to cover the district’s needs and those of the charter schools and the Achievement School District. However, because an additional 22 percent must go to the suburban school

districts, the county’s education obligation would surge to $44.5 million.

That hole could be filled with a 21-cent property tax increase, but a tax increase for schools isn’t likely to pass, said Commissioner Van Turner, budget committee chairman.

The full commission approved last week in the first of three readings the ordinance that keeps the county’s tax rate at $4.37 per $100 of assessed value.

“Given that scenario, we’ve got to deal with the revenue as we have it now,” Turner said. “We’re going to have to make some tough choices.”

The commissioners were presented with more than $7 million in budget increase requests from other elected officials, including $4.5 million from Sheriff Bill Oldham.

The county administration has made its recommendations on which increases can be found in the existing budget and asked that some salary increase requests be delayed until a compensation study is completed.

Other requests, like the $1.4 million from the District Attorney General Amy Weirich, were not recommended.

The new fiscal year begins July 1 and the county needs a budget to pay the bills, said county Chief Administrative Officer Harvey Kennedy.

“It’s going to be a long meeting because we’re going to encourage the commissioners to stay as long as it takes and get the budget approved,” Kennedy said.