Carter County adopts FY 2026–27 budget after debate over outside agency funding

The Carter County Commission approved the fiscal-year 2026–27 budget and a series of budget amendments and resolutions after a period of debate over funding for outside nonprofit agencies.

Commissioner Deal said he could not support the budget and cited omission of funding for several outside agencies that serve county residents, specifically naming the senior citizens center, the Boys and Girls Club, Shepherd's and the Children's Advocacy Center: "I don't support this budget because of the outside agencies that were left off in my opinion." He said the amounts at issue were modest relative to overall expenditures and said he would vote no.

Chair Commissioner Smith and other commissioners defended the budget process, noting the budget committee had reviewed line items across multiple workshops over the previous months. Commissioner Hughes and committee members said staff and the committee worked repeatedly to reduce line items; one participant said the county was constrained by a reappraisal year and by a new state funding requirement of approximately $138,000 that added to the county's obligations.

The commission moved to adopt the entire FY 2026–27 budget and then voted on individual resolutions tied to appropriations. The full‑budget motion was seconded by Commissioner Frasier; the motion passed with two no votes and one abstention. Commissioners then approved several related resolutions, including a resolution to provide additional tax relief to low‑income elderly homeowners, totally and permanently disabled homeowners, and disabled veterans (citing TCA code‑1), a resolution authorizing appropriations to nonprofit and civic organizations serving Carter County, a general appropriations resolution for county funds, and a resolution fixing the county tax levy for the fiscal year.

Votes at a glance: the meeting record shows a sequence of budget amendment motions approved on the consent-style docket, among them (amounts as stated in the meeting): county fund budget amendment 101‑13 (items 1–22) $894,935.38; solid waste fund amendment 116‑10 $70,130; health department fund 117‑3 $500; direct fund 122‑2 $850; parks and rec 123‑1 $250; highway fund 131‑10 $1,325; general purpose school fund 141‑12 items 1–3 $214,284.90 (amount transcribed as 214,2849—clarified in record as not specified where ambiguous); school federal projects fund 142‑9 $16,897.80; Helen Bond Fund 180‑9 $1,245,382.17 with $315,600 from Helen bond proceeds; arbitrage fund 360‑1 $1,444.94; county fund 101‑14 $28,832; solid waste fund 116‑11 $1,000; ARP fund 127‑77 $228,126.50; solid waste fund edit amendment 116‑12 $11,000. (Amounts are taken from the meeting record; where transcription contains ambiguous numerals those amounts are flagged as uncertain in clarifying details.)

Chair Smith praised the budget committee for its attendance and work and said committee members would invite outside agencies back to request additional consideration. The meeting record shows the package of budget amendments and the fiscal‑year budget were adopted and related resolutions passed.