The East Ridge budget starting July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, 2021 was approved on the final reading Thursday night. The city council unanimously approved the budget for the upcoming year that is expected to have flat revenue growth and expenses that are anticipated to be above those in 2020. New costs will include paying for recycling and a three percent increase in the cost of health insurance for city employees. There will be no cost of living raises for employees this year.
Despite planning on no new revenue and increased expenses, there will be no property tax increase.
The tax rate will remain at $1.3381 per every $100 of assessed value of a property, the same as in 2020.
An amendment was passed to the 2020 budget to account for expenditures and income that occurred throughout the year which was unknown when that budget was originally passed.
In the city manager’s report, Chris Dorsey said that brush from the spring storms and tornadoes has now all been picked up and the public works department is back on their regular schedule. He said he is talking to FEMA weekly about paperwork that is needed for East Ridge to receive financial aid from the federal government to help with the cost of the storm clean-up.
To be in compliance with the law, employees who had accumulated over 320 hours of personal time off have been paid for it. The city is looking for a new way to handle time off including sick leave, personal days and vacation time. New proposed plans will be given to the employees to review and to get feedback before a plan is decided on.
Mayor Brian Williams reported that TDOT which is responsible for upkeep of the East Ridge tunnels, will be improving the lighting. Materials for the work have been ordered and the project should be done in late July. TDOT is also looking into increasing signs and notifications regarding the tunnels in an effort to improve safety.
Two bids were received for photography during the 2020-2021 sports season. The bid was awarded to School Days Photography. The company will pay East Ridge 30 percent commission of gross picture sales.
Contracts were renewed for two companies located in the city for fleet maintenance. East Ridge Fast Lube will continue the preventive maintenance of oil changes and tires for the city’s vehicles. East Ridge Auto Electric will take care of all other maintenance and repairs.