The Marshall County Commission adopted the county’s budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year on Monday evening but not without controversy.

The commission voted 11 to 6 to increase the county’s property tax rate by five cents, from $2.76 per $100 of assessed value to $2.81 per $100.

On a home appraised at $100,000, the increase translates to a little more than $1 additional per month.

Commissioners E.W. Hill, Joseph Warner, Anna Childress, Mickey King, Tony Beyer, Wesley Neece, Cannon Allen, Sheldon Davis, Keith Hollingsworth, Glen White, and Dean Delk voted in favor. Commissioners Tony Nichols, Roger Murphree, Seth Warf, Jeff Poarch, Vincent Cuevas, and Craig Blackwell opposed the measure.

Commissioner Bob Hopkins was absent.

The county’s budget committee projected an approximate $330,000 gap in the coming year between expenses and projected revenue, despite denying most requests from department heads.

Revenues have been flat and a change mandated by the state on personal property and utility collections cost the county $185,000 in revenue.

Of 11 requests for personnel, the committee approved only three and two unfilled positions were eliminated for a $150,000 savings.

Not seeing further reductions that wouldn’t impact essential services, the committee recommended the additional five cents to cover the difference.

Some commissioners, when the recommendation was first introduced at a work session held for the commission in May, expressed the opinion that the county should use some of the $9 million currently in the county’s unrestricted fund balance to cover the potential shortfall.

The fund balance is used to fund operations through the months when the revenue stream is slow as well as serving as an emergency fund in case of an overall economic downturn or unforeseen event.

Some commissioners were loathe to start drawing money out of the fund balance, looking at the current financial situation of Lewisburg, which has funded deficits out of the fund balance for years to the point of insufficient reserves to fund operations.

The fund balance is higher than ever before and, overall, the county is in solid financial condition.

In September the county will pay off its final outstanding general obligation bond early, leaving the county free of debt other than school bonds which are paid from sales tax collections.

Paying off the final bond will save the county $557,781 in interest payments on that bond.

Funds dedicated to the debt service fund will be divided between the general funds and the capital projects fund.

Concerns over economic uncertainty overall and the undefined cost of required renovations to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards in county buildings in the near future are concerns for some commissioners, however.

Bedford County increased their rate by ten cents for the coming year and the city of Murfreesboro increased their rate by 36 cents.

Four commissioners, Warf, Cuevas, Murphree, and Blackwell, who opposed the increase read statements outlining the various reasons for their vote, and Nichols made a motion to table the budget that died for a lack of a second.

Despite the opposition to the tax rate resolution, the vote to accept the county’s budget resolution was unanimous.