Signal Mountain council adopts FY2025-26 budget ordinance
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Summary
At a June 30 special meeting, the Signal Mountain Town Council adopted an ordinance setting the town budget and tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. Council discussion noted the budget is a deficit budget for a third consecutive year, though the town reported accumulated cash reserves and approved staff pay increases.
Signal Mountain Town Council adopted an ordinance setting the annual budget and tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026, at a special meeting on June 30, 2024.
The ordinance passed after a brief discussion and a recorded affirmation of “3 ayes.” The council did not specify individual vote names in the meeting transcript.
A council member raised questions about how the budget would read to residents, saying the town is “passing a deficit budget” for the third year in a row. The same speaker noted that despite budgeting a deficit, the town has “accumulated more than $2,000,000 in cash by running surpluses” over recent years. The meeting record also notes the budget includes significant cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and merit raises for staff.
Town officials reported the ordinance covers both the spending plan and the tax rate for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2025. The transcript does not include the ordinance number, detailed line-item amounts, or a roll-call of individual yes/no votes; it records only the motion, a second, and the tally of three ayes. Following the vote on the budget ordinance, the council moved to suspend the remainder of the agenda and adjourned the special meeting.
The meeting opened with roll call and a pledge of allegiance. No members of the public spoke during the citizens’ opportunity period, and there were no resolutions on the agenda. The meeting was short and largely procedural, focused on the single ordinance before the body.
The council’s discussion highlighted two points that could inform future deliberations: the choice to present a deficit budget for the coming fiscal year despite having multimillion-dollar cash reserves accumulated in recent years, and the inclusion of pay increases for town staff. The transcript does not provide further explanation of the town’s revenue projections, the size of the deficit, or whether the tax rate was changed from the previous year.
The ordinance will take effect with the start of the fiscal year on July 1, 2025, per the dates stated in the ordinance language on the record; additional implementation details and a full budget document were not provided in the transcript.