Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Anderson County sets proposed tax rate, holds budget workshop with sheriff over staffing and jail costs
Summary
The court accepted a proposed 2025 tax rate of 0.497815 per $100 to fund the 2026 budget, scheduled public hearings and conducted an extended budget workshop where the sheriff outlined staffing shortages, increased overtime and equipment needs that would affect the county’s projected deficit.
Tommy Cross, Anderson County tax assessor-collector, presented the proposed tax calculations and benchmarks the court uses to set rates. He reported the proposed rate at 0.497815 per $100 of assessed value, including a maintenance-and-operations component and debt service. Cross explained the no-new-revenue rate and the adjusted voter-approval rate and said accepting the proposed rate would not immediately trigger a voter-approval election because the proposed rate was below the adjusted VRA threshold discussed in the proposal.
The court accepted the proposed tax rate in a motion by Commissioner Chapin, seconded by Commissioner Hill, and scheduled the statutory public hearings and final adoption timeline with a public hearing in late August and final action in September.
The meeting then moved into an extended budget workshop. The sheriff (name not specified in the transcript) presented the sheriff’s office and jail budget. He described operational pressures: a number of vacant deputy and jail positions, an increase in overtime driven by staffing shortages and jail average-daily-population requirements, and costs tied to training academies moving to Longview that would increase travel and lodging expenses. The sheriff also requested increased line items for radio replacements, vehicle and building repairs, contract medical and other jail-related operating costs. He identified equipment needs (handheld and in-car radios, body armor, cameras) and asked for policy flexibility to recruit experienced officers by recognizing previous service in pay steps.
Commissioners and the judge weighed the requests against budget constraints. The judge said adopting all requests would increase the county’s general-fund deficit materially and cautioned against over-committing: "We're setting a $1,900,000 deficit in general" if many of the proposed items are funded. The court discussed tradeoffs and directed staff to return with refined estimates and specific contract quotes (for radios, structural/jail repairs, and master plan work already discussed under the courthouse item).
On compensation, the court approved a motion to give all elected and county officials a 3% pay increase or not less than $1,200 — whichever is higher — and separately approved a $3,000 supplement per district judge; the court directed staff to advertise salary changes as required by law.
What’s next: Staff will refine budget numbers, return with vendor quotes and contract language for capital items, and present a final budget and tax-rate adoption timeline for the court’s August/September public hearing cycle.
Votes at a glance: Proposed tax rate 0.497815 accepted (motion by Commissioner Chapin; second by Commissioner Hill). Pay increase motion (3% or $1,200 minimum) approved (motion by Commissioner Mahoney; seconded and approved).
