The largest source of money for the city of East Ridge's general fund, $8,400,087, is projected to come from incremental state sales tax attributed to the Border Region status of the city. However, much of that, $5,784,317, is planned to be used for border region incentive payments that the city makes to 20 businesses to locate in East Ridge.
Highlights of the draft of the upcoming budget were given to the East Ridge Council by City Manager Scott Miller. This draft budget is based on revenue of $27,827,365 in the general fund.
Property taxes account for $7,151,333. City Manager Miller is not recommending a property tax increase from the current $1.25. The reassessments of real estate this year has caused significant property value increases, but the city will be required to roll back the tax rate so property taxes will generate the same amount that was collected last year. Mr. Miller said that rate will not be known until the city is informed of the certified tax rate by the state, but it might be less than one percent. Other taxes are budgeted to bring in $6,121,343.
Another number that is yet to come, is the value of any new construction that occurred in the last year because the tax rate will not have to be rolled back on new buildings.
Personnel Services of $13,269,350 accounts for the largest expenditure and city operations are budgeted at $4,935,641. East Ridge has 10 separate funds including state street aid that comes from state gasoline taxes for road maintenance, solid waste management, capital improvement programs and the economic development fund in addition to the general fund and the total budget for them all is $45,180,801. The city’s fund balance, known as the rainy day fund, is now at $10,441,070. And Mr. Miller recommends not using any of that money until the fund is replenished.
Operational expenses have all gone up including utilities and insurance and the costs related to operating the new multi-purpose pavilion and more employees to run it. There will be new equipment bought for the fire, police and pubic works departments. And the proposed budget includes large purchases such as a new fire truck and equipment for it. And tasers, police cruisers, a fingerprint system and a firearms training simulator for the police department. A dump truck, a gator and a 72 inch mower is needed by the public works department.
And $1,635,158 is in the budget to pay for debt service on infrastructure projects.
Additionally, all employees will get a three percent across the board pay increase and performance raises are still being determined.
After fine tuning the proposed budget in conjunction with the council members, the first reading of the 2025-2026 budget will be June 12 and the second reading is scheduled for June 26.
The council members will meet with the city manager individually to discuss the first draft regarding any changes that they might want to see before the budget is finalized.
But before the budget draft presentation, several items in regular business were voted on.
A discussion carried over from the last commission meeting continued about qualifications for members of the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Housing Commission. Because the BZA’s decisions do not go before the city council, their recommendation is final. The commissioners, spurred on by Commissioner Aundie Witt, decided that going forward, members appointed to this board should have relevant experience since they have the ability to condemn buildings. Each of the five council members has one appointment to this board and they have been charged to seek individuals with experience such as a contractor, a civil engineer, a realtor, or somebody with zoning experience among other qualifications in related fields. Wording in advertisements for these positions will state that the qualifications are desired but not required.
Some of the same skills or experience are also needed by members of the housing commission. The same language, requesting relevant experience to serve is desired but not required, has been added to the ordinance regarding board appointments, who make and enforce property maintenance regulations. A difference with this board is that its members are an arm of the codes enforcement department and they can rely on knowledge from the codes enforcement professionals who work for the city.
Fire Chief Mike Williams was authorized to accept the Hamilton County 2015 Homeland Security Grant for the fire department. This money will be used to buy 12 ballistic vests that will be kept on the department’s trucks. The grant requires no matching funds from the city.
Since $1,718,000 with a $200,000 contingency and $40,000 for kitchen equipment was approved for building the city’s new multi-use pavilion now known as Venue 1921, the prices have gone up. The city has requested additional funding from the state and received another $600,000 that will require the city to match the amount. That will give the city an additional $120,000 to use for the project. The council approved committing an additional $600,000 for their share of the matching grant.
Also approved was the annual contract with TDOT for mowing services at the I-75 Exit 1 Interchange for 24 months. The state will pay East Ridge $9,800, which has remained the same for eight or nine years, said City Manager Miller. Even though costs have gone up, he said that the price for mowing is non-negotiable with TDOT, but the city wants to keep it as an attractive entrance into the city.