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Montgomery County commissioners approve FY2027 appropriations with staffing shifts and $75,000 reallocated from arts to library
Summary
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners approved the FY2027 appropriations package on June 8, 2026, including an amendment that cuts two part-time EMS positions to create an EMA operations coordinator and a separate vote to move $75,000 from the Arts & Heritage Council to fund a library branch supervisor; the budget as amended passed 19–1.
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners on June 8 approved Resolution 26-6-10, the FY2027 appropriations and nonprofit funding plan, after a pair of amendments that shifted staffing and program dollars.
Commissioner Joe Smith moved an amendment to reduce two part-time emergency medical services positions and transfer $103,410 from EMS to fund an Emergency Management Agency operations coordinator. Commissioner Harper seconded the amendment, which passed unanimously, 20–0. "The motion will be to approve reducing emergency medical services part-time EMA EMT positions by two positions to fund the emergency management operations coordinator position," Smith said when introducing the change.
Later in debate, Commissioner Beal proposed deleting $75,000 allocated to the Clarksville Arts & Heritage Council for Discovery Trails artwork and reallocating that amount to the Montgomery County Library to fund a North Branch supervisor. Commissioner Leverett moved to amend that amendment so the $75,000 would directly fund the library position; the amendment-to-amendment passed 13–7, the amendment as amended passed 15–5, and the full resolution 26-6-10 as amended then passed 19–1.
County finance staff told commissioners the $75,000 reallocation would not fully cover the new library position. "The position was 110,000 and some change, so it's not going to cover the full amount," Mr. Wheeler said, noting the county could delay hiring or use existing vacancies to bridge the gap.
Commissioners described the EMS-to-EMA transfer as a re-prioritization to fund an operations coordinator for emergency management. The final vote on 26-6-10 reflected the combined changes and approved the county’s appropriations for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2026.
Next steps: the county manager and finance staff will implement the approved transfers and return to commissioners if additional amendments are needed while hiring the new EMA coordinator or adjusting library staffing plans.
