BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
2 JUN 2025
The Chair Commissioner Matt Rubelsky opened the meeting asking Commissioner Roger Reedy to offer a prayer and lead the pledge. The Chair spoke to the public attendees about the purpose of the meeting, i.e., to brainstorm both long- and short-term solutions and to address the budget year shortfall of $5.3M. He noted all budgets have been approved individually as presented and now can be considered holistically. He mentioned some other areas that will affect local government budgeting in the future years, e.g., state mandated teacher salaries; county raises so as to be competitive in retainment with surrounding counties, and phased courthouse upkeep; as well as general national costs increasing. He discussed possible sources of revenue such as property tax increases and wheel tax. He then gave the public opportunity to speak and Mr. Jackie Worsham spoke on using a wheel tax for some residents who do not pay property tax and both Commissioner Terry Jones and County Executive (CE) discussed why this is not allowed, and they also mentioned that a wheel tax can exclude certain groups such as farming vehicles.
Commissioner Matthew Hopkins initiated conversation on budget line items (BLI) that may not be statutorily required or may have exclusions such as not required for municipalities/towns. He noted the ambulance service requirement is ambiguous, and asked if that service to Pulaski is required (without cost) since in other areas such as a police force both the county and Pulaski have a separate force. He further said if that is true, then the county wouldn’t need a large Pulaski centric ambulance service, and that the City of Pulaski would have to contribute revenue for EMS support, thus helping offset future requirements. The CE mentioned the counterpoint, which is that Pulaski citizens also pay county taxes, and given the present ambiguity would be unenforceable.
Since a large part of the attendees were representing the Highway Department, the Chair asked if anyone had questions for Road Superintendent Gene Barnickle. Commissioner Hopkins asked if the road crews had to cut grass along the road sides; why not let property owners do that? Mr. Barnickle said not everyone has the necessary equipment; we have the right of way; and it is a safety problem in some part of the county. Commissioner Hopkins said I’m just giving options and Commissioner David Adams said RE Maury, if you don’t do the state can pull your funds. Mr. Barnickle said perhaps on state roads, but he would look into it. He further discussed the roads paved per mile in the past and how many roads the 25-26 budget would allow, i.e., about 70 miles with commissioners commenting on rising costs this year in areas such as insurance. The commissioners also commented on how local government sales tax portion was reduced in the past to fund the state that was in crisis mode. Now that the state is considerably more able to meet state needs, local governments consider that percentage, originally moved to state, should now be returned to local government. Commissioner Terry Jones commented on the wheel tax which had been approved at local legislative level but was not passed by citizens. Commissioner Roger Reedy noted that he thought it too late to do a wheel tax for this budget cycle but with 29,288 passenger cars registered in Giles County a wheel tax could bring in $1.6M in new revenue. If with small increase in property tax, Commissioner Reedy said use fund balance for the rest of the shortfall, until get wheel tax approved (during proposed budget year), the necessary funding would be there. The FM noted that the general fund balance “floats” and would be risky. Commissioner Caleb Savage asked about state funds being available later after covering the natural disasters, with Mr. Barnickle saying the state swaps between infrastructure like bridges to roads, so this year would be bridges. RE highway MoE, the FM also cautioned decisions on highway considering the state uses a five-year balance for MoE. Commissioner Hopkins provided a list by his understanding of which services are required or are not. Several commissioners, especially Commissioner Reedy, gave historical background and the importance to the community, e.g., those that provide revenue to the county, those that support the county’s major “industry”, that is agriculture. A motion to not cut the BLIs 57100, Agricultural Extension Service, 57300 Forest Service, and 57500 Soil Conservation was made by Commissioner Terry Jones, seconded by Commissioner Evan Baddour, and was approved 4-3 with Commissioners James Lathrop, David Adams, and Matthew Hopkins voting no. The Chair noted all the proposed budgets had already been approved and now we are talking about the big shortfall and how to fund. The CE also noted that the budget chair is trying to keep us on track we need a budget to go to full commission, and the county is pressing against a 27 June deadline (have a balanced budget for state). Serena Williams of the public spoke on her experience, her ownership of both a business in town and a farm, her support for soil conservation, and her concerns about costs going up, and a suggestion on adding additional gas tax (could also collect from people transitioning through the county). The CE thanked all citizens for their suggestions on funding but he said in most cases the county has no authority to innovate; counties are statutorily limited to wheel, property, and sales (maxed out) taxes, along with some administrative fees that are also maxed out. Commissioner Annelle Guthrie asked should the wheel tax have a sunshine law with the CE saying you can’t effectively restrict or constrain future commissioners from overturning the desires of present commissioners.
Chip Rose (public) in referring to pay raises, he described how they were developed with consideration of inflation, insurance and other cost increases, and that you can’t go back. The CE noted there are real numbers in the budget and the primary discretionary is down to personnel. He noted that with the vast majority of budgets being devoted to non-discretionary lines, cuts have to focus on discretionary spending, the largest being people and positions. Worth noting, if you don’t spend what is budgeted then it comes back to the fund balance he said. He mentioned that the FM had tough questions from and to the department heads, and if the option is to cut personnel, that is going to be reflected in reduced services. Mr. Knox Vanderpool, Chairman of the School Board, noted that reducing something that generates revenue is not fixing the big problem.
RE BLI 131 Highway Budget – Commissioner David Wamble asked the FM how much more is budgeted for 25-26 than the last year with the FM saying about $1M. She also said the state will not approve the highway budget as is, with the state requiring at least 8% of the fund balance, i.e., $700K but would want to see $1.5M. Commissioner Wamble suggested a $500K cut, with the CE saying you can do incrementally but the same situation would have to be addressed the following year. Commissioner Roger Reedy said he hated a tax increase as much as the next person, but the county has been “living” off past savings. Since the budget has already been approved, unless something significant is cut, let’s address how to fund. Commissioner Wamble said he has a goal of $1M available in BLI 171 Capital Projects and $1M in cuts (so as to reduce any property tax increase). The CE mentioned the BLI 189 is already spoken for (for example, courthouse renovations) – if we’re going to tap savings better to consider the county’s fund balance. It currently by resolution has a target of 45% and could by resolution change to a lower rate. A motion by Commissioner Evan Baddour, seconded by Commissioner James Lathrop, to raise property tax by 25 cents to Highway Dept, and if state increases funds, then those funds would be put back into the county’s general fund balance. (Each one cent equates to $93,979 of the total assessed county property [residential/business] at the collection rate of 97.5%). The FM stated that would raise the MoE and there is no way to “come back” from that raise even if the state does not increase the funds. Re the state returning the share of sales tax previously taken, the CE said the best approach would be to form a regional consortium of rural counties to encourage that to happen. However, for now he said to the Road Superintendent to not count on the state increasing local funding, and without a tax increase, his options are to cut mileage paved and/or to cut equipment buys. Commissioner Evan Baddour said after the above discussion that his motion was too complex. He made the following Motion with Commissioner Carman Brown providing the second to reduce the highway budget by $500K, reduce the Sheriff’s two new positions for Training Officers down to one training Officer, move the ambulance’s remount to capital projects, no overcollection on schools, then how many 1 cent to reduce the shortfall. Both Road Superintendent Gene Barnickle and Sheriff Joe Purvis said to do the recommendation to cut (both budgets) made no sense in that to fully fund or partially fund would not be significantly notable by the public. Sheriff Purvis said he had only two commissioners approach him for an in-depth conversation on this budget. He also stated the training officers do other duties more than just the training mission, e.g., they are Deputy Chiefs with all the functions of that job as well. He noted his 2024 percent of closed cases is 57.5% while the state’s is averaging at 37% and this year his closed case is averaging 2 times the state’s. He said nobody wants to raise taxes and he is asking for only the bare minimum. Commissioner Evan Baddour said we can’t tell an elected official to not do training officers – we can only provide funding for a budget for his department. Both Commissioners Evan Baddour and Carman Brown withdrew their motion. A motion by Chair Matt Rubelsky, seconded by Commissioner Carman Brown, to increase the property tax by 56 cents to cover all proposed budgeted items was made. The CE gave an example of how that would affect citizens, saying if you have a $204K property your current property tax is $1013, and with this increase your property tax would be $1299, a 28% increase. He also said Giles County, of 13 middle Tennessee counties, is currently the lowest but would be 4th from top highest taxed counties in that region, assuming no other county raises their taxes. Several commissioners suggested zeroing out the capital projects line item, which has roughly $900K per the FM, but would not then be available for some unplanned efforts (which happened in current budget year). A motion by the chair Commissioner Matt Rubelsky, seconded by Commissioner Carman Brown, was made to approve the 56-cent property increase, do a $50 wheel tax (increase revenue by $1.4M) and use all wheel tax for capital projects. Commissioner Caleb Savage noted you would need separate motions for two different taxes. The CE said for a wheel tax you need two-thirds vote of the county legislative body at two consecutive regular county legislative body meetings; or by passage of a resolution by the county legislative body by a regular majority with approval and referendum provided for in the resolution. And he further said you would have to decouple the motion. Commissioner Joseph Sutton asked when would an approved property tax go into effect with the Chair saying Jul 2025. If a wheel tax was approved somewhat later in the budget year the chair said it would go into effect when you applied for a license. Commissioner Gayle Jones said if we decide on a referendum, how much will it cost the county, with the FM said around $40K. LUNCH BREAK.
The Chair went back to the motion to raise the property tax 56 cents with that broken down to 31 cents for county general fund and 25 cents to the highway. The motion passed 4 – 3 with Commissioners Terry Jones, David Adams and Matthew Hopkins voting no. Previous budget minutes of 22 May 2025, 27 May 2025, and 29 May 2025 were moved to be combined and approved by Commissioner David Wamble and seconded by Commissioner Evan Baddour. Minutes approved unanimously. Commissioner David Wamble asked since this committee has passed everything in the budget and now this budget will go to the full commission is there a contingency plan if the budget fails at that meeting. Commissioner Shelly Goolsby asked if you don’t pass the budget, where would you cut this budget? Both the Road Superintendent and the Sheriff commented again, with the Road Superintendent saying we are running same as 20 years ago (with less people and costs going up every year). The Sheriff commented his costs are going up especially for jail food and medicine and gave examples of where he had already made many cost saving decisions to protect tax dollars. Commissioner Gayle Jones asked about the public hearing on the budget with the CE noting 24 June 2025 in the courthouse and 26 June 2025 for full commission consideration of the budget. Commissioner David Wamble asked about specifics on projected county raises, noting most are 3% but several were completely restructured. The Highway Department, the EMS paramedics and EMTs, and the schools were mentioned with the FM providing information on all. A motion by Commissioner David Wamble, and seconded by Commissioner Evan Baddour, was made to take $900K from the capital projects line, remove a purchase by the highway of equipment (Long arm truck), a remount for the Ambulance, and one patrol car since Commissioner Wamble said why raise taxes when those dollars are available in capital project line. The CE mentioned the commitments already made against 171 and fund balance, stating we are where we are because we’ve routinely tapped reserves for recurring expenses. Commissioner Caleb Savage also added with potential development at Exit 14 which would increase revenue, but will require infrastructure there as well. At this time several commissioners mentioned possible reductions to the proposed budget generally reiterating previous discussions. The motion failed 4-3 with only Commissioners Annelle Guthrie, David Wamble, and Caleb Savage voting to approve.
Commissioner Evan Baddour asked if the budget fails to pass what then. The FM said would have to re-advertise, call a special meeting for citizens, and operate without a budget (school could lose state funding) and budget must be approved no later than scheduled July meeting. Motion to adjourn by Commissioner James Lathrop, seconded by Commissioner David Wamble and was approved unanimously.
ATTENDEES: Members of the committee – Chair Commissioner Matt Rubelsky and other commissioners Evan Baddour, Matthew Hopkins (Caleb Savage after Hopkins leaving later)e, James Lathrop, Terry Jones, Carman Brown (for Shelly Goolsby late attendee), and David Adams / Other commissioners in attendance Gayle Jones, David Wamble, Judy Pruett, Rose Brown, Joseph Sutton, Annelle Guthrie, Roger Reedy/ Others in attendance County Executive Graham Stowe, Financial Manager Beth Moore-Sumners and Shana Woodard, Sheriff Joe Purvis, Josh Young and Willow Chavez Director Emergency Service and Ambulance respectively, Road Superintendent Gene Barnickle and Erin Harmon, Other Department Heads for their individual LIs, members of the Public
