Signal Mountain City Manager Matt Justice was thanked by the Town Council for working to straighten out bookkeeping errors that have taken place over the last year.
While discussing a budget amendment to reconcile what the town spent versus what had been budgeted, members of the council questioned the discrepancies. Mr. Justice, who was named the city manager several months ago, said that in all departments, items had been budgeted to the wrong lines.
Vice Mayor Clay Crumbliss noted that in the summary for the year, for one example, general liability and property insurance all have budgeted numbers and zero expenditures. In the police department the summary says there has been a sum of $25,000 not spent. Mr. Justice replied that in all departments, it shows that worker’s compensation is way over budget. That is because property and liability insurance were all allocated and paid to the worker’s compensation line so there will be blanks across all departments for property and liability insurance.
He said that the bookkeepers used by the town were the ones who allocated all the insurance to a single line. And that was done across the board. When he realized that, the city manager said that all the worker’s compensation insurance lines were added up and that sum verified that it had all been collected. He said, "We feel very strongly we have collected all expenses and have at least allocated for the amounts that were budgeted to the wrong lines but that we’ve captured the dollar amount.” He said the same is true for revenue and that he is now working to get it all corrected and straightened out. He said he believed that “It is partially because of changing software as well as the bookkeeping assistance that we have.”
Another item under budget for the Fire Department that Mr. Crumbliss also questioned was why $22,000 had been approved by the council for hiring part-time firefighters and only $2,700 had been spent, yet the department was over budget by $24,000 for overtime. The reason for that, said Mr. Justice, is that part-time firefighters are not always available when needed, and Fire Chief Larry Sloan has had difficulty in finding others to take those part-time jobs.
The budget amendment that passed on the first reading Monday night provided for adjustments to expenditures which took place during the 2024-2025 budget year. Some of the most significant increases over the budgeted amounts include $30,000 for the Administration Department, $40,000 for the Finance Department, $15,000 for the Public Works Administration department, and $2,115,156 for the Debt Service Department that was off set by the Increased General Fund revenue in other revenue source in the amount of $2,115,156. There were also decreased expenditures for recycling by $45,000, decreases of $170,000 for the Public Works facility maintenance department, and $100,000 in the highway repair and maintenance department. Expenditures were $260,000 below the budgeted amount in the Fire Department and $100,000 in the Police Department.
Town Manager Justice will present the new 2025-2026 budget at a special called meeting at town hall on Monday at 6 p.m. On Monday, June 23, a special called meeting will be held for two items: a public hearing and second reading of the 2024-2025 amended budget as well as the first reading of the 2025-2026 budget. And another special called meeting will be held on Monday, June 30, for the second and final reading of the 2026 budget that will go into effect on July 1.
In other business, additional charges were approved for the replacement of siding on the Signal Mountain Library that has now been completed. Mr. Justice said when the old siding was taken off wood rot was uncovered that was repaired for an additional $2,770. Abbot Engineering was paid a total of $37,770 for the work that was paid out of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Jeffrey P. Duke, the town’s current administrative hearing officer, was appointed for an additional four years
Fire Chief Sloan was congratulated for being named Chief Fire Officer from the Commission on Professional Credentialing. The designation recognizes demonstrated excellence in seven components.