Members of the Hamilton County Commission and Hamilton County’s legislative delegation met Tuesday morning to discuss priorities for the 2015 legislative session. County Mayor Jim Coppinger presented a wish list and asked for help and support for those issues. State Senators Todd Gardenhire and Bo Watson along with state Representatives Gerald McCormick, Mike Carter, Patsy Hazelwood and Marc Gravitt were present to hear and respond to the requests.
The list of concerns presented by Mayor Coppinger included opposition to any measure that would be sent to the county through passage of unfunded mandates. He also asked that the per diem rate for housing State prisoners in local jails be increased from the current $37 per day to more closely reflect the cost of providing this service, and suggested increases be tied to annual cost of living adjustments. In response, Rep. McCormick asked if the city helps with this expense and was told they did not.
An appeal was made for equitable distribution of sales taxes and full funding for the Basic Education Plan 2.0 (BEP) in order to provide competitive salaries and benefits for teachers. This would help to compensate for the impact of inflation on capital projects such as construction, as well. Mayor Coppinger said that Hamilton County has been hit hard by lack of this financial support. “Any assistance would be appreciated.”
Mr. McCormick replied that the plan to fund the BEP had been created in 2007 when a tobacco tax was enacted to fund the program. Money is lacking now, because the economy collapsed that year with the recession. Additionally, any excess gets soaked up by medical costs, he said. "We’ve been working on this for over a decade. We all want more money for the schools.”
Another call to help the school system was to extend the state’s coverage of teachers’ health insurance from 10 months to 12. “We know this comes with a hefty price tag,” said Mayor Coppinger, and asked for help in any way that the state could provide. This would be a cost for the state only which would not be shared by Hamilton County.
A solution to develop a long-term solution for funding both state and local road maintenance and construction was also asked for. Rep. McCormick answered that now roadwork is largely funded with a gas tax and that amount is decreasing because of fuel economy. Three choices are available; he said to raise more money for these projects. First, roadwork could move into a “maintenance only mode.” Other options would be to raise the gas tax or issue a lot of bonds. Whatever is decided, he said would be done responsibly.
Regarding transportation, the mayor also supported mass transit initiatives, acknowledging that larger counties have the most use for this mode of moving people. He said that Hamilton County grew one-two percent last year and is growth is expected to continue. “Anything we can do to move more people and minimize traffic issues,” would be appreciated.
Shared taxes are also included in the list of requests to the State of Tennessee. The legislators were told that county governments are faced with the cost of providing mandated services while receiving no portion of state sales taxes. The only other source of revenue for these municipalities is property taxes.
The issue of annexation figures in to the cost of road maintenance since that expense is passed on to the municipality to which a development is annexed. Often, that city asks that the roads in and around that annexed area be de-annexed so they would not be responsible for maintenance. Mr. Coppinger asked for the legislators to help prevent this practice.
The mayor said it is recognized that when the federal government pulls back on funding, then it falls to the state. He asked to be notified in advance if this happens so the county will have some input into what will be reduced. Mr. McCormick was supportive of this stance on shared taxes.
Legislation to support increasing the threshold for sealed bids from $10,000 to $25,000 was also requested. The county would have to put out sealed bids for projects over $25,000. For an amount under that, three quotes would still be required.
It was also made known that another priority is that the county opposes mandatory collective bargaining between local governments and any labor union.
The matter of stormwater fees is also an issue Hamilton County is facing in 2015. The city of Chattanooga is asking the county to pay fees related to storm water mandates. The county commission is seeking help from the legislative delegation to determine if that is necessary before payments are started.
Partnership between Hamilton County and Chattanooga does not compare with what is contributed from the state level, said Mayor Coppinger. Local government cannot do things, for example, such as the expansion of the Volkswagen facility, without state government. Mr. McCormick told the room that the state delegation would like to fund all the proposed projects but they know that it will be impossible to do.
On a final note, Senator Todd Gardenhire spoke about the recent turn of events at Erlanger hospital. This week, bonuses were announced for executives and management. At the Tuesday morning meeting he questioned how to hold the trustees responsible for the move. He said, “In my opinion, this was sneaky and uncalled for. What they did was an outrage.”
“The guy came to town knowing what was going on there, then worked hard to get himself a raise,” said Mr. Gardenhire. He added that trustees on that board have to be honest, and expressed indignation over the matter saying that you cannot cut back on the employees and then give yourself a raise. The money that put the hospital in a profitable position came from the federal government and will not be a steady revenue source. What was done is totally irresponsible, he continued, and the way things are done at Erlanger Hospital need to be changed.