New Seven Member County Budget Committee Begins Work on 2021-22 Spending Plan

March 28, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The new seven member DeKalb County budget committee met for the first time Thursday night at the courthouse to begin making plans for the 2021-22 budget.

Half of the 14 member county commission now makes up the budget committee including 1st district commissioner Julie Young, 2nd district commissioner Sabrina Farler, 3rd district commissioner Jenny Trapp, 4th district commissioner Dr. Scott Little, 5th district commissioner Jerry Adcock, 6th district commissioner Jeff Barnes who serves as chairman of the budget committee, and 7th district commissioner Beth Pafford.

Five department heads including Sheriff Patrick Ray, Fire Chief Donny Green, Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell, and DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Director Charlie Parker appeared before the committee in person Thursday night to present their budgets with few requests for new spending and Dusty Johnson, Captain of the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad asked for more funding. No action was taken.

The budget committee also reviewed proposed budgets sent in from other departments which had no significant changes including the Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Circuit Court Clerk, Recovery Court, Health Department, Clerk and Master, Senior Citizens Centers, DeKalb Prevention Coalition, Libraries, UT/TSU Extension Service, and membership dues. No action was taken.

The budget committee still has to hear from several other departments including the school board, Road Supervisor, DeKalb EMS, among others as to their budget proposals for 2021-22.

2021-22 Budget requests submitted to date:

DeKalb Fire Department:
*Funds for 5% grant match to purchase 70 new sets of turnout gear. If the grant is not awarded then the local grant match funding would not be spent.

* Funds for 5% grant match to purchase a new Quint fire truck pumper equipped with a short aerial. If the grant is not awarded then the local grant match funding would not be spent.

*Another $25,000 in seed money to eventually build a fire department station in the Wolf Creek Community. The county set aside $25,000 in seed money for the project in this year’s budget (2020-21).

*Funding of $10,000 to add unisex restrooms at two fire stations. Rooms would be enclosed within the existing fire stations consisting of a toilet and pumping system to an outside tank. There would be no septic system.

*Funding for a 45% grant match ($112,500) to purchase a new or used fire truck under the USDA Rural Development Facility Grant Program. If the grant is not awarded then the local grant match funding would not be spent.

*Carryover funding of $75,000 already allocated but not spent from this year’s budget (2020-21) as a local grant match for the purchase of a new tanker under the Community Development Block Grant Program. The grant has already been awarded the county but the pumper has not yet been delivered.

DeKalb Sheriff’s Department:
*Funding for the purchase of four new patrol cars with equipment package.

DeKalb Assessor of Property:
*Funding for purchase of new pickup truck to replace 2006 model with 180,000 miles

Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad:
*Additional contribution of $8,821 for fuel reimbursement to rescue squad member volunteers. (County already budgets $3,179 for fuel reimbursement)

*Additional funding of $3,500 to replace swift water rescue equipment as it wears out. (County has already appropriated $18,000 to equip and train 15 volunteers for a new swift water rescue task force.

The Rescue Squad, a non-profit organization, is not an entity of county government. The county appropriates $26,000 each year as a contribution to the volunteer group.

County Mayor Tim Stribling explained that the county has to follow a timeline under state law for preparing the 2021-22 budget although little can be done until the latest reappraisal cycle is completed which is expected soon. Stribling said once the state establishes a new certified property tax rate for the county, it will be up to the budget committee and county commission whether to accept the rate, which is expected to generate the same amount of local revenue as this year, or to increase the tax rate.

“If we don’t have an adjusted tax rate then basically people’s property taxes will go up. But the state will complete the assessments on our property values and then send us an adjusted tax rate that will be lower than the current rate of $2.1235 cents per $100 of assessed value but equal to the local tax revenues we are collecting now. We went through this five years ago. The tax rate at that time was $1.79 cents per $100 of assessed value but when appraisals came in they were lower so in order to keep the same revenue the state said we needed to and we did adopt a tax rate of $1.8335 per $100 of assessed value. This budget committee will have to vote on a tax rate recommendation to the county commission for passage but if you increase it even one cent than what the state recommends then you must have a public hearing,” said Stribling.

In 2019, the county commission increased the property tax rate by 29 cents from $1.8335 to the current rate of $2.1235 per $100 of assessed value.

DeKalb County has experienced increases in property values and sales over the last four years and that will be reflected in the finalized overall property revaluation when the latest reappraisal is completed. According to Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell, total reappraisal increases may be as much as $400 million since the last reappraisal five years ago.

State law establishes reappraisal for updating and equaling property values for every county in Tennessee for property tax purposes.

In DeKalb County, reappraisal is an on-going process comprised of an on-site review of each parcel of real property over a four year period followed by a finalized revaluation of all such property in the fifth year.

Once property values are finalized this year, they will remain the same until the next five year reappraisal cycle is completed in 2026 regardless of how the market performs.

March 27, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

“Hailey” is a cute, happy, and lovable dog. All she needs to make her canine life complete is a forever home to call her own. That’s where you come in.

Meet “Hailey” the WJLE/DeKalb Animal Shelter featured “Pet of the Week”

DeKalb Animal Shelter employees Jennifer Angaran and Emmaly Bennett with Hailey from dwayne page on Vimeo.

“Hailey is an eight month old Coonhound/Beagle mix with a cute short bobbed tail. She is adorable and has a happy bark. Its really cute. So far we know she is good with people and she seems to get along well with other dogs but if you have a dog and would like to meet her we ask you bring the other pet so we can make sure they get along,” said shelter employee Emmaly Bennett.

“If you would like to meet “Hailey” go to our website under our adoptable animals tab at https://www.dekalbanimalshelter.com/ and you will be called to set up an appointment after you fill out an adoption application. For more information call 615-597-3647 or send a message on facebook or email,” said Bennett.

March 26, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The Tennessee Department of Transportation opened bids this morning (Friday) for the long awaited US Highway 70 Improvement Project from Alexandria to Liberty.

Twin K. Contractors, Inc. was the apparent low bidder for the reconstruction project at $30,875,122 which includes the grading, drainage, construction of retaining walls and paving on US 70 (State Route 26) from near State Route 53 at Alexandria to near State Route 96 at Liberty. The project is 4.1 miles long and the completion date is on or before June 30, 2024.

Four other companies submitted bids including Rogers Group, Inc. at $31,207,736, Jones Brothers Contractors, LLC at $31,721, 295, Eutaw Construction Company, Inc at $34,721,105, and Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC at $41,218,220.

TDOT has not yet awarded the contract and no date has been set for start of construction.

“Twin K. Contractors Inc. is the apparent low bidder. Of course, this does not mean that the contract will be immediately awarded. When we open bids on a project and determine the apparent low bidder, our headquarters construction office reviews the bid to check for any irregularities and to determine if everything is in order before they officially award the contract. They have up to 30 days from the bid opening to do this. If everything checks out, then the project will be officially awarded to the contractor and all the contract-related documentation will be executed, which takes some time. Shortly after that, we will have a preconstruction conference to discuss the project in general, including the contractor’s approach to the project and the timetable of the project. In attendance at the preconstruction conference will be TDOT construction, environmental, utility, and safety personnel along with the contractor and other affected parties (like utility companies). After the preconstruction conference, the contractor is free to begin work on the project,” said Jennifer Flynn, Region 2 Community Relations Officer.

According to TDOT, the majority of the project will consist of the following:

5 – 12’ lanes (2 lanes each direction, continuous center turning lane)
12’ outside shoulders (10’ paved + 2’ stone) each side

1000’ of project (@ SR-53 intersection)
5 – 12’ lanes
4’ paved shoulders, curb and gutter, sidewalk

2 retaining walls –
370’ long (avg 10’ tall)
100’ long (avg 7’ tall)

246,000 cubic yards of excavation
150,000 tons of base stone
88,000 tons of asphalt
8,300 ft of pipe
7 box culverts