Arlington eyes tax boost for station
The town of Arlington is considering a 22-cent tax increase to support the addition of a second fire station.
If approved, the fire department would receive a roughly $1 million increase to its budget and the second station, with a second company, would open later this year.
The total general fund budget for fiscal year 2020 would be $10 million, compared to this year’s budget of $8.4 million.
The budget for the next fiscal year would include an addition of 14 positions, 12 of whom would be with the fire department. The others would be in public works and the parks department. That is a 27 percent increase in personnel for a town of 13,400 residents and 51 town employees.
“We have been talking about expanding public
safety for quite a number of years and we knew we couldn’t do that with reserves or capital money,” said Arlington Mayor Mike Wissman.
“Everyone’s done their due diligence and looked at it line item by line item. To get where we need to be with fire protection, it’s the only way to do it at this time.”
The land has already been purchased for a second fire station, which would be located off Airline and Donelson roads.
The current tax rate for Arlington is $1.15, the lowest of all the Shelby County municipalities. A 22-cent tax increase would put it above Lakeland unless you consider Lakeland’s separate fire fee (Lakeland is also considering a property tax increase to fund a high school).
The Arlington Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously May 6 to approve the first reading of the ordinance and the tax levy. The second reading and final adoption is scheduled for June 3.
Before voting, every alderman spoke out in favor of the tax increase in order to fund a fire department.
“The budget for fire protection hasn’t really changed all that much in (the last 10 years),” Alderman Cheryl Pardue said. “I believe public safety should be one of our top priorities. … We owe it to the residents to provide infrastructure that supports what we are building here.”
Katherine Burgess covers county government and the suburbs. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.