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Crossville managers present draft budget highlights: staff additions, capital projects and no proposed property-tax rate increase
Summary
City staff briefed council on the proposed fiscal-year budget and capital-improvement plan including a projected general-fund surplus, employee cost-of-living adjustments, new hires for parks and maintenance, multiple capital projects and a recommendation to hold the tax rate steady this year.
City finance staff presented a draft FY 2025–26 budget and capital improvement plan at the Crossville work session and recommended moving several items to the council agenda while holding the tax rate unchanged.
Nathan (finance staff) told the council the general fund currently shows a projected surplus of about $112,000 and outlined revenue and spending assumptions. He said revenues were estimated conservatively, with modest increases in property tax and reductions to interest income to reflect expected lower interest rates. “I lowered the estimate down about $200,000, in anticipation of future reduction interest rates,” Nathan said.
Why it matters: The budget includes positions, wage adjustments and capital projects that will affect city services and future operating costs. Council members asked for scenario runs showing different pay adjustments and requested time to review numbers with staff.
Major budget and capital highlights - Compensation: The draft includes a 5% cost-of-living increase plus a 2% step increase (a combined 7% adjustment called out in the presentation). One council member asked staff to model an 8% scenario. - Staffing: The plan adds one full-time employee to parks and one to maintenance, and several part-time positions for seasonal work. - Capital items called out for this year: $585,000 in meters and UT relocation (TDOT-reimbursable), $175,000 to replace City Hall flooring, fire-department life packs and vehicle replacements, and multiple leisure-services projects (Depot windows and parking lot work, auditorium seat replacements, pickleball lighting, Meadow Park Lake campground work, and an inclusive playground contingent on grants). - Water and sewer projects: $760,000 for Town Loop water-line replacement on Livingston Road and a proposed $4,000,000 ceramic filter replacement slated for a future year. - Debt and outside agencies: Staff retained previous-year funding levels for many outside agencies and built a placeholder debt payment for a proposed Station 2 fire hall loan.
Council questions and follow-up Council members asked for a list of items removed from the capital plan and more detail on outside-agency requests (for example, hospice and veterans’ groups). Staff said the outside-agency line items currently reflect last year’s amounts and will verify updated requests. Council asked for more time to review and scheduled the budget for further discussion at the retreat.
Ending Staff asked that budget and capital items be included on the upcoming regular agenda for first reading; no final adoption occurred at the work session.
