The Signal Mountain Commission on Monday approved a property tax increase that amounted to a 32-cent hike.
Reassessments of property in the town increased this year, with the new appraisals done by Hamilton County. By state law, the county property tax was reduced so the change would be revenue neutral. The county’s certified rate for Signal Mountain is $1.3965 for 2018. Municipalities have the option of following the county or setting their own rates.
At the town council meeting Monday night, the Signal Mountain town council voted to set the tax rate at $1.5665 for every $100 of assessed value.
Town Manager Boyd Veal said the bond for building the high school will be paid off, which will account for 15 cents of the current rate that will no longer be needed. After that is removed, 32 cents will be added. The tax increase is needed to balance a decrease in the amount of the Hall state income tax that is expected in 2018. Additionally, this year, Signal Mountain has planned to build a new fire station among other obligations, said Mayor Chris Howley.
Mr. Veal said that everyone on the mountain has a Signal Mountain address and that resulted in a mis-allocation of the Hall tax this year. The town received $90,000 less than had been budgeted. Based on that allocation, the town faces a shortfall from the initial budget projections for the Hall tax in 2018. It is expected that each year the town will receive $125,000 less from the Hall tax until it is completely phased out in 2021. Some council members are optimistic that if there is good performance in the stock market, this reduction can be made up. If not, the town has enough in reserves to cover the deficit, said Mayor Howley. His opinion is if reserves are too high, people are being taxed too much, and this could be a way to reduce reserves. The votes to accept the new tax rate and budget for 2018 were four in favor and one against. Councilman Dan Landrum supported increasing the tax to 34 cents to be certain that the budget would be balanced.
Because of annexation and increased and projected growth of the town, three studies were done which determined that an additional fire station was needed on the north end of the town. The land that was purchased for the building was determined to be the best location considering the growth areas, reduction to response time and good access. However, the land does not lend itself to expansion, said Vice Mayor Dick Gee, so the building was planned to serve the community for 40-50 years. When it is built, there will be three fire fighters per shift. However, it is designed to house six, so there is room for a second engine company, said Mr. Veal.
The initial design for the building was estimated to cost about $3 million. The town and the architect went back to the drawing board to rethink the plan, make reductions and find efficiencies, with the goal of lowering the cost to $2 million. The redesign was done without diminishing functionality, said Mr. Veal. The town received bids from five contractors for the new plan and the lowest bid was $2,698,000. The “turn-key” price, he said would be $3 million. Adding equipment and a truck would bring the price up to about $3.4 million. He said after reviewing the building’s appearance, the parking lot and layout on the property among other things, there is no longer the expectation that it can be built for $2 million. A re-design and further reductions would diminish functionality, said the town manager.
Not building the station is not an option, said Councilman Gee. After studies said the fire station was needed because of all the growth on that end of the town, Mr. Veal said he would expect de-annexation issues if it was not built. When annexations were made, a plan of service for the area was established. The town is obligated to do what it said it would do, said Town Attorney Phil Noblett. “Time is money,” said Councilman Gee. “The longer we wait, the more it will cost.” The council is left with making a decision about how to proceed after Mr. Veal gets “hard numbers.”
Approval was given for the purchase of a “Hook-Lift” truck system for the amount of $309,271. This is a vehicle that can be used for a wide variety of services by the public works department and will allow one person to do what has taken four people to do with the old equipment. The truck has a fully automated leaf machine and comes with two dump beds, so it can be used as a full-service dump truck. A separate bed can be dropped off where needed to be used as a dumpster and there will be a 1,000- gallon brine tank system for treating streets in bad weather.
An amendment was made to the agreement that Signal Mountain has with the developer of Wild Ridge subdivision. While roads in a subdivision are being built, they are inspected by the town. It is required that they have a maintenance bond for two years by the developer. After that, they are inspected again and are given to and accepted by Signal Mountain, which becomes responsible for maintaining them. The amendment that was passed makes the developer responsible for defects and construction failures for an additional two years after the roads are accepted by Signal Mountain. All subdivision regulations will be changed to comply with this new regulation, which will apply to all future roads in subdivisions.
Authorization was given to the town manager to purchase five portable digital radios for the police department for an amount not to exceed $15,000.
The council approved applying for a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program grant. The amount received would be $250,000 with a 20 percent match by the city. This grant would be used for biking and walking trails and creating signaled cross walks, and signs.
Since the 1980s, permission has been given to build three houses which have driveways on a graveled, unopened right of way on Carolina Avenue. When built, the houses were allowed with the condition that the town would not be responsible for that road. During the past several months, those homeowners have been pushing the town to build a road to replace the gravel one. The matter was taken to the planning commission which made the recommendation to deny the request. Monday night, the council discussed allowing those homeowners to pave the roadway themselves providing they would sign a waiver that the town is not responsible if their equipment causes damage to the street.
Becky Davenport Young was appointed as a member of the Mountain Arts Community Center board.
A community forum has been organized by residents who want the schools on Signal Mountain to remain in the Hamilton County School district. The new superintendent, Dr. Bryan Johnson, will be there for questions and answers along with other county officials. The meeting is planned for Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Signal Mountain Middle/High School Theater.