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The Claiborne County Commission approved an amended 2024-25 budget appropriations resolution and set the 2024-25 Property Tax Levy at $2.377 per $100 of assessed value during their August meeting. It was their last chance to approve a budget before the State Comptroller’s Office would have had to step in and manage the county’s spending on September 1.

The commission approved a motion by David Mundy to cut four cents from the proposed property tax increase and take the projected $265,629 in revenue from the county’s general fund balance. The amendment passed 11-10 despite objections from County Mayor Joe Brooks and County Finance Director Eric Pearson.

Zachary Bunch, Gary Poore, Stacey Crawford, Zach Mullins, Anthony Rowe, Mitchell Cosby, Rosemary Barnett, Carolyn Brooks, Steve Mason, and Quinton Rodgers joined Mundy in voting in favor of the amendment. Commissioners Dennis Cook, Whitt Shuford, Haley Barker, Nathan Epperson, Mike Campbell, Tim Shrout, Steve Brogan, Eric Jones, Sherry McCreary and Dustin Wilson voted no.

Person said the measure would take the property tax rate from roughly $2.78 per $100 to $2.34. The property tax rate was previously $2.30 per $100.

“The best approach is to balance your recurring expenses with recurring revenue,” he said. “(Borrowing from the general fund to meet expenses) is not something the comptroller would recommend.”

Mayor Brooks said if the county continues to borrow from the fund balance, “we’re never going to have a fund balance in place to be able to give a five-percent raise.”

Earlier the commissioners voted 19-2 to remove a $20,000 raise for Person that was included in the proposed budget and instead give him the same 3-percent raise that all county employees received.

The final appropriations resolution and tax levy resolutions passed 19-2 with Shuford and Barker both the only no votes on both of them.

Commissioner Brogan pointed out that 4.5 cents of the tax increase came from state mandated increases for the ambulance service.

“That’s all new money and it’s something that we had to do,” he said. “We’re all tax-payers and I don’t want to pay anymore than I have to pay. That and the 3-percent raise for our employees is every bit of your increase. With everything that’s went on in this county over the last year, if people are not OK with giving our employees a 3-percent raise then there is something wrong with them.”