Agencies that depend on funding from Hamilton County presented their budgets for fiscal year 2017 to the Hamilton County Commission Tuesday morning. All were requesting increases from the previous year.
Assessor of Property Bill Bennett made the last budget presentation before his retirement. He is the longest serving Republican in Hamilton County, having served in a public position for 35 years and in the assessor’s post since 1994. The 12.4 percent increase he requested for the Assessor of Property Office and the Board of Equalization is all because of the reappraisal of 167,663 parcels of real estate that is scheduled for fiscal year 2017. The reappraisals are already in process, said Mr. Bennett. “The increase for funding would provide salary increases, overtime pay and postage to send out the appraisals.
The Hamilton County Clerk’s office requested a 6.2 percent increase. County Clerk Bill Knowles said the exploding registration that his department is experiencing can be explained by the most current census data. His budget takes into account issuing licenses and calculating taxes. There also is an increase planned in overtime for employees and a plan to reduce bookkeeping that accounts for 60 percent of the requested increase. He said that going paperless resulted in a 1.5 percent savings.
Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston asked for an addition of $124,000 from 2016, a 10.9 percent increase. This would include $51,720 for a new Cold Case investigator and $24,000 to go with a similar amount from the state for a second new investigator, who may be involved in gang cases. The District Attorney's Office has recently uncovered 7,600 envelopes containing unprocessed materials from the Coroner’s office, which is now being dealt with. The increase would also assist the investigation of long unsolved cases. There are 150 unsolved homicides in Hamilton County for which there are leads. He said additional staff would be helpful. Other pending issues are the Ooltewah High investigation following a basketball team rape case and beefing up the Juvenile Court where he said most criminals get their start.
The Public Defender’s office relies mostly on state funding with a small portion coming from Hamilton County. This year the request is a .7 percent increase from the last year’s budget which would be used to install an additional phone line.
The nine percent increase requested by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s office would support the addition of part time people to fill positions such as jail transport. Officials said that 34 additional people are needed including four new School Resource Officers and three employees in the IT department. The expectation, however, is that many will not be actually funded. The request includes $900,000 for doing work at the jail, a lot of which deals with safety issues. Computer upgrades are also needed. The request for vehicles is the largest amount in the budget which includes three specialty vans in addition to cars. After reviewing individual salaries, Vice Chairman Randy Fairbanks noted that “It stands out that we can’t pay officers what they are worth.”
The Election Commission will hold two countywide elections in August and November and eight municipal elections. The 20.3 budget increase that is being sought would pay for salaries for election-day staff.
County Register of Deeds Pam Hurst’s proposed 2.8 percent budget increase would take care of filling a vacant position and salary increases for the staff. Refurbishing employee work stations would also be covered by the budget, as would be a new server.
Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean asked the commissioners for a 27.7 percent increase in his budget for salary increases and to cover higher insurance costs.
An increase of 4.2 percent over 2016 was requested for the building maintenance of the Chattanooga African American Museum. This would be only for operational expenses. Work to reduce utility costs by replacing 150 lights with energy efficient LED bulbs in 2016 has paid off. The plan is to be able to continue working on energy efficient lighting in the building. Questions asked by Commissioner Warren McKay about the economic impact of the facility, and if it appeared that it would eventually become self-sustaining were referred to President Dionne Jennings.
Budget presentations and requests were also made for the Air Pollution Control Department for an increase of 7.9 percent, Agricultural Extension Services for a 12 percent increase, and the department of Soil Conservation .9 percent. The oldest Armed Forces Day Parade in the United States is funded with money from the Hamilton County Commission. In the past, $10,000 has been provided. It is organized entirely with volunteers. This year, Patty Parks who is in charge, is asking for a increase of 50 percent to cover the cost of transporting school bands by buses and for the increased costs to advertise on billboards.
District Attorney Neal Pinkston