News
Proposed EMS Budget Again Put on Hold
June 7, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
Put on hold again!
The budget committee, Tuesday night, again tabled adoption of the ambulance service budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year until perhaps next week. The final proposal will be submitted to the full county commission when it acts on the consolidated budgets for all departments later this summer.
EMS Director Trent Phipps had initially requested as one option a $5.00 per hour increase in pay for the 20 EMS medical personnel employed by the ambulance service and that his own pay be increased from $61,040 to $90,000 in 2025-26.
The proposed EMS budget request has since been revised to include only step pay increases for personnel and for the director’s pay to go to $70,000. The EMS budget would also include another $6,000 to cover an increase in pay for medical death investigators.
“We proposed making my salary higher than the highest paid paramedic on the list”, said EMS Director Phipps during his initial meeting with the budget committee in April.
According to payroll records provided by a county commissioner, the highest paid EMS employee for the period of July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 was $71,971 (gross amount) including hourly pay and overtime. The same employee earned $60,177 (gross amount) during the period from July 1, 2024 to April 10, 2025.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, County Mayor Matt Adcock recommended setting the EMS director’s pay at the same level as the DeKalb County Administrator of Elections which for the 2025-26 fiscal year will be $84,699 per year. And every time the state gives a raise to the election administrator, the EMS director would get the same raise.
Again, the budget committee has not yet voted on the EMS budget requests.
Meanwhile the budget committee voted to fund the purchase of a new remounted ambulance which is not what EMS Director Phipps had originally requested. Phipps had asked the committee to include $275,000 for a new ambulance which if approved would not be expected to arrive for another two to three years. Instead, the committee budgeted $158,600 (from capital projects) for a remounted ambulance with options of $16,800 and $700.
The county is expected to take delivery this summer on another ambulance which was authorized for purchase and ordered during the 2022-23 budget year but not yet paid for at $225,000. These two ambulance purchases ($225,000 for one on the way and the remounted ambulance) puts the total EMS local capital projects funding at $401,100 for 2025-26. The budget committee Tuesday night added a little cushion to make the total appropriation $415,000.
In other business, the budget committee raised the hourly county employee part time pay across the board from $12 to $13 per hour. Pay for each of the three judicial commissioners would go from $14,900 to $20,000 per year.
In 2024, the county funded a full-time courthouse security officer for a portion of the year through a $37,440 budget amendment with benefits including (social security, retirement, health insurance, unemployment, and Medicare) Constable Mark Milam was hired to fill the position. This year the cost would be $49,030 including benefits for the entire year. Meanwhile a part time unfilled security guard position at $18,720 was also funded last year to assist Constable Milam and is to be included in the 2025-26 budget.
Meanwhile work is underway to make the entrance doors to the courthouse more secure. According to County Mayor Adcock, panic bars and related hardware have already been installed, and the project should be completed by the end of July.
The committee adopted the sheriff’s department and jail budget and granted Sheriff Patrick Ray’s request for the addition of two deputies and one secretary to his operation. In making his request in April, Sheriff Ray explained how he had taken steps to minimize budgetary impact of the additional staff.
“We are adding 2 deputies to the sheriff’s department and the 3% salary increases plus tier jumps. I have made deductions from the sheriff’s budget to try to offset expenses for the extra 2 deputy positions. We have also lost high tier deputies and detectives, so our salaries line item is less this year than last year. With the deductions from Sheriff’s Department budget line items and the pay decreases, I feel the impact of the extra 2 deputies along with the 3% increase in pay with the employee tier jumps will have a minimal impact to the budget,” said Sheriff Ray.
“I have also made deductions from the Jail’s Budget to try to offset expenses with the extra secretary position. We have also lost high tier correctional officers, so our salaries line item is less this year. One of the major cuts, is with the jail’s inmate food line item. The food item line cut is where our contract for feeding 85 inmates and over has gone down to 52 inmates because of the TCI bed count cut. That food cut alone was $103,000,” said Sheriff Ray
The budget committee also approved an expenditure of $600,000 from capital projects for courthouse heating and cooling repairs and transferred $100,000 from interest income in capital projects to help support the county general fund.
The capital projects fund includes up to $450,000 for either a used or demo fire engine to allow placement of an engine at the new Wolf Creek Public Safety Building that may be constructed within the next 12 months. The capital projects fund also has a total of $250,000 in seed money for the Wolf Creek Public Safety building. Four new sheriff’s department patrol cars totaling $175,000 would also be funded from capital projects in 2025-26.
The budget committee will continue its work Tuesday, June 10 at 6 p.m. in the lower courtroom of the courthouse.
Meeting a Budget Request Halfway
June 7, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
Meeting a budget request halfway!
The county budget committee Tuesday night adopted the election commission budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year but denied a request by election administrator Dustin Estes for a second full time employee for his office. Instead, the committee voted to fund a part time position at $18,096.
Estes, as he had done in April, tried to make his case for the second full time deputy and he cited statistics to back up his request.
“I am requesting to add one deputy to my staff. I operate with a staff of one,” said Estes during his previous remarks in April. “Some statistics to back up the need for the extra support, from 2017 to 2025 we have seen a 21% growth in our voter rolls,” explained Estes. “In the last four years DeKalb County has increased 8% in its total residents and our voter rolls have increased 11%. Looking at similar counties to DeKalb County, Smith County has two deputies. I think they have operated with two deputies for some time. Adding a second deputy would potentially alleviate any comp time and it would also support our office in vacation and sick time. We have been fortunate so far but with a staff of one I feel like we run the risk during election time. Heaven forbid but if something were to happen to myself or that one person during an election, we would really have liability with such an important task,” explained Estes.
The budget committee’s recommendation will be included in the 2025-26 budget subject to final adoption by the full county commission later this summer.
Meanwhile plans are moving forward to eventually relocate the election commission office from the courthouse to unused office space at the county complex. In January a budget amendment in the amount of $110,000 was appropriated from the fund balance of capital projects. A bid was recently awarded to make the renovation, and the work is expected to be completed perhaps by the first of July.
Chamber Announces 24th Annual “Jamboree Project Welcome Mat” Contest
June 6, 2025
By:
The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce the 24th Annual “Jamboree Project Welcome Mat” contest, held in conjunction with the 54th Annual Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival. This cherished tradition invites local businesses with changeable signs or marquees to display fun, festive, and welcoming messages to greet the thousands of visitors expected during this year’s Jamboree.
Chamber Director Suzanne Williams highlights the value of this initiative, saying, “With thousands of visitors coming into town for our 54th celebration, this is an opportunity to show our guests that we appreciate them and welcome their business.”
All businesses are encouraged to take part in Project Welcome Mat. To recognize their creativity and community spirit, awards will be given in the following categories:
Best Worded
Most Original
Most Creative
People’s Choice Award
Winners will receive a commemorative plaque and media recognition for their outstanding efforts.
To enter, businesses should submit a photo of their sign to the Chamber by Friday, June 20 at 12 PM. Entries can be emailed to director@dekalbcountychamber.org or texted to 615-464-7760.
Let’s join together to extend a warm DeKalb County welcome and showcase the hospitality and charm that make Smithville and the Jamboree experience unforgettable.
