Macon County commissioners hear major budget appeals from college, Franklin fire district and arts group ahead of June 11 hearing

Macon County commissioners on June 4 continued review of the proposed FY2024–25 budget, hearing requests from Southwestern Community College, Franklin town officials and nonprofit and county program leaders as the board scheduled a public hearing on the budget for June 11, 2024.

Dr. Don Tomas of Southwestern Community College presented the college’s operating requests and handed out an economic-impact summary and campus-specific needs. He said Grove Center requires life-safety and ADA repairs costing about $71,000 and that roughly $58,000 is needed for other Grove Center campus work; County Manager Derek Roland told the board SCC’s request totaled $1.5 million and noted that the county’s annual appropriation to SCC has increased about 72% over the last two years.

The request from Franklin town officials centered on public-safety funding. Mayor Jack Horton and Town Manager Amie Owens told the board Franklin Fire & Rescue (FFR) serves the town and a broader fire district and said the department needs a new pumper and a tanker, each of which Horton said cost more than $1 million and take nearly two years to deliver after ordering. The Town Council recommended increasing the fire tax from just over five cents to seven cents; Owens asked the county to approve the seven-cent tax level the town requested two years ago and asked the board to budget $397,000 to support the district. Fire Chief Ben Ormond provided call-volume figures and said the current station, built in the 1980s, is at capacity and must be expanded before FFR can add staff.

Maggie Jennings, representing Arts for Macon County Schools, asked commissioners to reserve funding for three arts positions — an art teacher at Iotla Valley Elementary, a music teacher at South Macon Elementary and an art teacher at Macon Middle School — and requested that any state 3% funding increase be applied to support those positions.

Commissioner concerns ranged across departments. Commissioner Shearl pressed Solid Waste Director Chris Stahl for a list of past and current equipment purchases and disposals and for details on an availability-fee increase; Stahl said he would provide the requested equipment history and confirmed convenience-center start pay is proposed to rise from $11.53 to $12.53 per hour. Commissioner Higdon asked to see financial records before allocating county funds to the Cowee School; Finance Director Lori Carpenter described the county’s current reimbursement process for renovations and said utilities are billed to the county and paid directly.

Other budget questions included a $200,000 line item recommended for a Senior Services building assessment (a number derived from an earlier 2018 space-needs analysis), a $171,000 request to hire two Environmental Health positions (which Commissioner Shearl suggested delaying until January 2025), and a proposed upgrade to the tax office imager that county staff said would produce higher-resolution images for property measurement and reduce field visits.

Commissioners also discussed transit funding and seasonal services such as the hiker shuttle, parks maintenance and contracting strategies for mowing and custodial services, and staffing and cost differences between county employees and school funding requests. Commissioner Shearl raised courthouse-security questions and suggested reassigning sworn deputies from other duties to courthouse security and relocating metal detectors to courtroom entrances; County Attorney Eric Ridenour said an existing order regarding courthouse metal detectors would be shared with the board.

The board did not take final votes on budget allocations during the session but set the formal public hearing on the FY2024–25 budget for June 11, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the commissioners’ board room. At 9:45 p.m., the board voted unanimously to adjourn.