May 29, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
The county budget committee Tuesday night gave a thumbs up on passage of the proposed spending plans for the local highway department, schools, non-profit requests, and local purpose (local option sales tax) fund for the 2025-26 fiscal year subject to final approval by the county commission.
The county highway department is funded primarily from state revenues but the county budgets 0.0326 cents (less than 4 cents) of the property tax rate for the operation, which is going from $204,924 this past year to $206,000 in 2025-26. The county road department also gets $30,000 a year from the local mineral severance tax.
The school budget, as adopted by the board of education, includes local bonuses of $2,000 per educator for those not eligible for a bonus in the state’s school voucher law and a $1,000 local bonus for each member of the (non-certified) support staff. Also included in the school budget (from the fund balance or reserves) was $1.3 million for the future purchase of land for another school.
The committee Tuesday night approved the school budget, but instead of asking the board of education to pull $1.3 million from the reserves, it adopted something the board had not requested but perhaps would not object to and that is appropriating $1.3 million from the local purpose (local option sales tax fund) for the future land purchase. Presumably, the board of education would have to take another vote to re-approve the proposed school budget with the change.
Although he is not a voting member of the school board, County Mayor Matt Adcock said Tuesday night that (Director of Schools) Patrick Cripps is “okay with that”.
The county’s fiscal agent, Steve Bates first made this suggestion at a previous budget committee meeting.
“They (school board) are budgeting $1.3 million for another piece of land to build a new school (either high school or middle school). I would suggest the county tell the school board to take that out (of their budget) and let the county fund it out of local purpose (local option sales tax revenue) because that fund is supposed to be for things like that,” said Bates.
In other business, the budget committee approved the 2025-26 local purpose (local option sales tax) fund.
“Local option sales tax revenue is $4.775 million with a contribution (to school operation annually) of $1,910,000 and $1.3 million (one-time appropriation) has been added to educational capital projects for future school land purchase,” said County Mayor Adcock.
Also approved by the county budget committee is the 2025-26 requests as presented for contributions to non-profit and charitable organizations totaling $366,892, which is down from $411,746 this past year.
Organizations and the requested amounts are as follows:
Upper Cumberland Development District: $ 2,000
Tennessee Forestry Division: $ 1,500
Plateau Mental Health Center: $ 7,180
Senior Program: $ 93,318, up from $88, 919 in 2024-25
DeKalb County Soil Conservation District: $ 100,651, up from $96,968 in 2024-25
DeKalb Animal Coalition: $36,805
Chamber of Commerce: $ 35,000
DeKalb County Rescue Squad: $ 51,321, down from $104,256 in 2024-25
Upper Cumberland Human Resources: $ 5,500
Imagination Library: $ 12,000
Veterans Honor Guard: $ 1,500
DeKalb County Fair: $ 5,000
Fiddlers Jamboree: $ 5,000
Civil War Trails: $400
UCHRA Assessment – Homemaker Aide, etc. $ 9,717
TOTAL NON-PROFITS $ 366,892