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Hamblen County committee votes 5% across-the-board COLA, shifts school tax pennies and one-time opioid funds to balance budget
Summary
The county budget committee approved a 5% cost-of-living adjustment for county employees, moved three 'pennies' from the school property tax, and authorized one-time transfers of $100,000 (semi-restricted opioid funds) and $250,000 (unrestricted funds) to balance the fiscal-year budget ahead of final adoption.
Hamblen County’s budget committee on June 8 approved a 5% cost-of-living adjustment for county employees, authorized one-time transfers to close a pre-COLA deficit, and moved a small portion of the school property-tax rate to cover salary increases.
Finance director Amanda Hail told commissioners the budget showed a $286,000 shortfall before any COLA. She recommended using $100,000 from semi-restricted opioid settlement funds to subsidize the drug court budget and $250,000 from unrestricted funds as a one-time measure to balance the budget. "Any money that's moved from here, it's not reoccurring," Hail said, warning commissioners that the transfers would not create permanent revenue.
After discussion about pay compression and recruitment, the committee voted to approve a 5% raise across county employees. Commissioners also voted to move three 'pennies' from the school property-tax allocation to the general fund to offset the recurring cost of the COLA. In roll calls recorded during the meeting, the motions passed with a majority of commissioners voting yes and a small number of abstentions noted on separate items.
Commissioners debated targeted limits for high earners in the sheriff's office, but no cap beyond existing state-set pay for the sheriff was adopted. Several commissioners cited staffing shortages across departments — sanitation, highway and sheriff’s offices — as a factor in supporting raises, arguing higher pay is necessary to retain employees.
Hail cautioned that the $250,000 transfer is a one-time “band-aid.” "This will be the very first year this coming year with a fully operational jail for the whole year. So I've tried my best to estimate electricity and gas and all that," she said.
The committee reopened the general fund item later in the meeting to reflect a separate vote to increase funding for volunteer fire departments, and ultimately approved the general fund as amended. The commission’s finance committee will finalize the budget for posting; the full commission is scheduled to adopt the budget on June 25.
What’s next: The committee’s actions now go into the required posting period and the full commission will take a final vote at the scheduled meeting on June 25.
