As someone seeking to serve our community on the County Commission, I believe understanding and overseeing the county budget is one of our most vital responsibilities. That is why I have made it a priority to attend nearly every budget committee meeting during this cycle.

Beginning in May, the budget committee has held special weekly and bi-weekly meetings to thoroughly review individual office requests and build the FY 26-27 budget. The goal of the recent meeting on July 2nd was to finalize the numbers, allowing the county to publish the legally required public notice before officially approving the budget and setting the upcoming year’s property tax rate.

Here is a breakdown of how the meeting unfolded, and what it means for our community.

The Good News and an Employee Raise

The meeting kicked off with positive financial news: thanks to strong local growth, the county’s assessed property valuation increased by 4.45%, significantly outperforming the initial 2.5% estimate.

On the heels of this news, a motion was approved to fund a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for all county employees. This raise comes just one year after the county invested in a comprehensive wage study to ensure Cumberland County’s compensation remains competitive with neighboring Tennessee areas and appropriate for each job function.

The Road Funding Debate: A Long-Overdue Conversation

The collaborative mood shifted quickly when the debate turned to local road conditions and the demand for adding “tax pennies” to dedicate permanent funding to our infrastructure.

Instead of reacting to crises as they arise, our county needs structural, long-term planning. Anyone who drives our county roads knows they have suffered from neglect for many years. The frustration expressed in the meeting room is entirely justified, and it is absolutely time for the County Commission to consider serious, forward-thinking proposals instead of “kicking the can down the road” year after year.

However, while the urgency is real, reacting with last-minute budget shuffles for an unspecified amount of funding during a final budget session is not the right way to achieve lasting results. Because adding “tax pennies” represents a recurring expense, doing so would require a direct increase in the property tax rate.

The room quickly grew tense over how to find these funds:

• The Wheel Tax Alternative: An informational sheet was distributed detailing how other counties utilize a wheel tax to supplement state road funding, though this option was ultimately set aside.
• Targeting Capital Requests: Looking for alternative solutions, several commissioners argued that because capital requests are non-recurring expenses, trimming them could free up money for roads without impacting the general fund balance or requiring a tax hike.

This approach sparked intense disagreement. Many committee members felt it was unfair to alter departmental budgets that had already received tentative approval—especially without giving department heads a chance to answer questions or defend their requests.

The Missing Piece: A Data-Driven Plan for Our Roads

As I listened to the debate about cutting emergency services to fund roads, a major missing piece became obvious: the discussion was completely missing a specific funding request or a concrete plan from the roads department itself.

In fact, the highway superintendent had only submitted a modest operational request for the year. The committee was trying to reallocate money without a clear, detailed proposal showing exactly how the roads department intends to utilize its existing revenue from the state and other sources. In short, we are trying to fix a “funding gap” before anyone has actually identified or measured what that gap is. Defunding vital public safety budgets without a data-driven blueprint for how those road dollars will be spent simply doesn’t add up.

The Elephant in the Room

When we talk about property taxes, we have to look at the whole pie. The reality is that the vast majority of our county property tax revenue is legally dedicated to our school system. The remaining sliver is all that’s left to fund every other essential county operation—including law enforcement, the jail, fire and emergency services, solid waste management, and general government.

Deep Cuts to Fire and Safety

Despite these missing details, the committee ultimately moved forward with targeting public safety capital budgets. They first focused on the County Fire Department’s proposed capital request of $1,524,600. An initial motion to cut the budget failed after a heated debate, but a second motion passed to reduce the fire department’s capital funding down to $800,000—freeing up $724,000 for other uses.

Next, the committee turned to the Sheriff’s Department. A motion was approved to reduce their request for two new vehicles and equipment down to just one, shaving $74,500 from the law enforcement budget. Discussions continued into jail funding, with the committee attempting to separate “needs” from “wants” across the remaining capital requests.

A Commitment to Transparency and Next Steps

As the debate progressed, some committee members and observing commissioners mentioned having discussed and agreed on certain budget reductions prior to the public meeting.

While these pre-meeting discussions can happen unintentionally during a stressful budget cycle, they underscore just how critical it is for our local government to strictly adhere to the Open Meetings Act and Tennessee Sunshine Laws. Open, public debate is essential to maintaining trust. As I note in the Transparency Pledge on my website, I believe every conversation about public funds belongs in the public eye, where residents can see exactly how decisions are made.

Moving forward, solving our infrastructure issues will require a much more thorough, collaborative review of our budget priorities. After nearly two hours of intense debate, the finance director proposed updating the revenue projections to reflect the day’s changes.

The committee will soon schedule the final budget presentation and required public hearing for the full commission.

The next budget committee meeting is scheduled for July 7th at 4:30 PM in the 3rd-floor conference room of the County Courthouse. I encourage everyone to stay involved and attend if you can.