Budget Committee to Begin Work Soon on 2019-20 County Spending Plan

February 22, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The county budget committee will soon begin work preparing a spending plan for the 2019- 2020 fiscal year.

During an all-committees workshop of the county commission Thursday night, County Mayor Tim Stribling said budget forms have been sent out to all department administrators to be returned by February 28 with any requests they may have for the new budget year.

“After the forms have been returned we will set up some preliminary budget meetings to allow department heads to formally present their proposals to the budget committee if they wish to come in person and then we will start working on the new budget,” said Stribling.

Stribling shared with the Commissioners information on how much money the county is expected to receive from the current tax rate in the new fiscal year.

“I am required to inform the board of education, the director of schools, and the highway department by March 15 what the value of a penny is in DeKalb County,” Stribling said.

The overall tax rate is $1.8335 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

The rate is distributed as follows:

County General: 0.9635 cents
General Purpose Schools: 0.6100 cents
Debt Service: 0.1300 cents
Highways/Public Works: 0.0300 cents
General Capital Projects: 0.1000 cents

Estimated revenue from the current property tax assessments for the 2019-20 fiscal year based upon estimated assessed valuations of $493,686,000 is $49,368 per one cent of the property tax rate. However the county is actually expected to receive $46,716 per one cent of the tax rate based on a 94.75% collection rate or a 5.25% delinquency.

The estimated net collection from the overall property tax rate is $8,576,517 in local revenue to help fund the county general department, general purpose schools, debt service, highways/public works, and general capital projects.

The net estimated local property tax collection for each department is as follows:

County General: $4,506,940
General Purpose Schools: $2,853,382
Debt Service: $608,098
Highways/Public Works: $140,330
General Capital Projects: $467,757

When asked about how much more money the county highway department is receiving from increases in state fuel tax allocations due to the IMPROVE ACT adopted by the legislature two years ago, County Mayor Stribling explained that the increase in funding for the department over a three year period was projected at $555,642 including $331,351 the first year and $112,145 this year and next year. The county highway department is totally funded by state fuel tax allocations except for a local mineral severance tax and revenues from three cents of the county property tax.

February 22, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Lady Tigers will travel to Crossville tonight (Friday) to face Cumberland County in the quarterfinals of the Region 4AA basketball tournament.

WJLE will have LIVE coverage with the Voice of the Lady Tigers John Pryor. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

Cumberland County (23-6) is the top seed from District 7 while the Lady Tigers (20-10) are seeded 4th from District 8.

Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish said Cumberland County will be a challenge.

“I think it’s going to be a tough game for us but we’re used to tough games. We play in one of the toughest districts in the state with Macon County and Upperman but we have a pretty good feel for them (Cumberland County). We played them in camp earlier this year and it was a pretty tight game until the end and we played them last year too but they are a little bit different now and so are we so we’re looking forward to the challenge,” said Coach Fish.

“Cumberland County’s Gracie Dishman can score points and she will be up for Miss basketball this year. They play at a fast pace and they are long and pretty athletic. We’re going to try and do our best job on her (Dishman) and see where the chips fall. They are very good but if we shoot the ball well from the perimeter and we can get some interior aggressiveness to the rim and get to the free throw line we can cause them some problems. Their pressure is the key. They really sell out on the pressure so how we handle their press and their trap style defense is really going to dictate how we do tonight,” Coach Fish continued.

“If we win tonight we will probably meet Upperman again and I feel pretty good about that game. If we are good enough to get past Cumberland County tonight and get to Upperman I feel like we have a good shot of making it to the regional finals. We gained a lot of confidence when we played them in the district tournament. After watching film on that game we were really a lot closer than maybe some people thought we would be. We were a couple shots away from really putting them on the ropes and knocking them out. I like our chances in the next round and I feel if we can get to the regional finals we have an opportunity to go to the glass house because District 8AA and having Cumberland County in our region is like a gauntlet. You’re looking at some of the better teams in double A,” added Coach Fish.

Meanwhile Lady Tigers Kadee Ferrell and Lydia Brown were named to the All-District Tournament Team earlier this week.

February 21, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A DeKalb County woman who began teaching and missionary work in Haiti two years ago plans to return there soon perhaps for a much longer stay.

Kidman Puckett, daughter of Jimmy and Anita Puckett of Smithville and a member of the Outreach Baptist Church in Smithville said she felt the call to do missionary work shortly after graduating from college.

“After I graduated high school I went to UT-Chattanooga and when I completed my education there I worked at Pates Ford Marina and started going to church at Outreach Baptist Church and that’s where I felt called to do missionary work and began thinking about moving to Haiti,” said Puckett.

IMG_4373 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

“When I was in high school I went on youth trips with my church and one time went to Mobile, Alabama and we did mission type work and I loved it so much I knew it was something I was really going to be passionate about although I had never really thought about doing it full time. Over time missions became heavier on my heart so I began to pray for reassurance in the calling and then on the last weekend we were open at Pates Ford Marina I had an elderly couple come in and they asked me what my plans were after the season was over. I told them missionary work was heavy on my heart. They asked where do you want to go. I said that was something I was still praying about but for some reason Haiti has been on my mind. They said that’s really funny and after talking to them for about ten minutes the man pulled out his card and said he does mission work in Haiti. Once that happened I realized it was an answer to my prayer. After making connections through him and I was able to go with them to Haiti for a week in 2017 and ended up staying nearly a full year from January to October. I went back and visited for a week in July 2018 and moved back on December 28. Although I am home right now I plan to return to Haiti in two weeks with no time limit. It could be for two years or forever,” said Puckett.

As part of her mission work, Puckett teaches English at an orphanage compound and university and also leads Bible studies.

“In Haiti their main religion is voodoo and that is very strong throughout the country but at the same time the people who worship and believe in voodoo know that God is more powerful so usually when it comes to witnessing to the people in Haiti they are very open to hearing what you have to say about it. I teach second and third graders through a state academic program. It is an English speaking school so all of these kids are learning English and they will graduate with an American high school degree. I also teach English at a university in Haiti and do Bible studies with girls age 15 and older who can understand English,” Puckett said.

“Haiti is a third world and very impoverished country with no electricity and it is hard to get clean water but there are lots of wells. Although the people are very poor they are generally very happy,” said Puckett.

“I want to thank Outreach Baptist Church for supporting me every month while I am there. They have gotten really involved and been able to take trips down there with me sometimes so that’s really exciting,” added Puckett.