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BOMA passes $58M budget




Steve Brown

Steve Brown

Although Hendersonville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed a 2020 fiscal year budget Tuesday with $600,000 more spending than revenue, residents won’t know for a couple of months how the vote will affect their pocketbooks.

Sumner County is currently in the midst of a reappraisal cycle – something that happens every five years. State law requires that a revenue-neutral certified tax rate be set after each mass reappraisal to prevent local governments from automatically collecting more money in tax revenues because of a reappraisal.

Assessor of Property John Isbell is expected to set a new certified tax rate in August.

BOMA members voted on first reading June 18 to increase the current property tax rate of 75 cents per $100 of assessed value to 85 cents. They’ll vote on setting a final tax rate for the new fiscal year after Isbell sets the certified rate.

City leaders also voted June 18 to eliminate the $293 annual garbage fee residents pay and to include that expense in the city’s general fund.  The city will move from a twice-a-week garbage pick-up service to a once-a-week service next week. That change is expected to save the city $2 million.  

Tuesday marked the third week in a row that BOMA met to discuss the budget, with board members continuing to amend the $58 million budget first proposed by Mayor Jamie Clary.

Much of the discussion centered around how the city plans to handle revenue from a 2.75 percent occupancy tax on hotel operators it started imposing in April. The new tax is an addition to a 5 percent hotel-motel tax already imposed by Sumner County. 

The city is estimated to collect around $90,000 by the end of this fiscal year and another $200,000 in the next fiscal year, Clary told board members.

Clary moved that the money be placed in a separate “enterprise fund” until the city can meet with hotel owners to receive their input on how the money should be spent. That idea initially passed, but leaders voted later in the night to undo the amendment and place that money in the city’s general fund. 

Other amendments included:

A move by Ward 4 Alderman Steve Brown to cut certain expenses in the public works, parks and codes departments by $52,000 while adding in a $40,000 expense of partnering with the Sumner County Board of Education to create a turn lane in front of Ellis Middle School. Those amendments passed unanimously.

Ward 1 Alderman Peg Petrelli added $5,000 to the budget for a resolution passed earlier in the night to authorize the Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) to coordinate a Comprehensive Management Review.  Petrelli also moved that $200,000 be earmarked for a special truck to help with drainage issues from the city’s storm water utility fund. Both of those amendments passed unanimously.

Ward 2 Alderman Scott Sprouse’s amendment to appropriate $50,000 for a special city anniversary concert set for October passed 12 to 1 with Clary voting no.

An amendment proposed by Ward 6 Alderman Eddie Roberson to establish a First Responders Memorial in Memorial Park with money donated by Roberson himself, as well as possible other donors, passed unanimously.  

The final budget leaves the city spending $610,000 more than it is collecting, according to Acting Finance Director Robert Manning. Manning estimates the city will have to add around four cents to the new rate of 85 cents to cover the deficit.  

The bottom line to tax payers won’t be known until the certified rate is set, however. Already, a person who owns a $200,000 home is estimated to save $100 a year by having the annual trash fee folded into the general fund, Manning added.

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