JOHN COFFELTEditor

The Coffee County Commission approved 15-2 it 2024-25 Budget at the June 25 meeting which includes an 8.5% raise for employees.

The budget calls for approximately $28.8 million in expenditures, and an estimated closing fund balance of $8.9 million.

The commission approved a uniform property tax rate that is the same as last year, with no increase for Coffee County for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024 shall be $2.0558 on each $100 of taxable property county wide, an additional tax of $.0520 on each $100 of taxable property for the City of Manchester, and an additional tax rate of $.2232 on each $100 of taxable property in the rural area.

In the budget, each department will see an $8.5% increase for salaries to be applied at the discretion of the department head.

The resolution passed with Commissioners Dwight Miller and Tim Brown voting no. Commissioner Joseph Hodge was absent. It passed Budget and Finance with a unanimous vote.

Brown said following the vote that the county isn’t doing enough for its employees regarding pay.

“I just wished we could have done more for them,” Brown said. “I would have liked to have heard some discussion about the budget tonight because we didn’t really discuss it.”

Brown said that the county has a lot of underpaid employees that can “barely pay their bills” and “can’t go on vacation.”

Interim County Mayor Dennis Hunt called the budget a good-faith effort that the Commission is trying to do the right thing.

“I think what we did here tonight with the 8.5% is a positive thing,” Hunt said. “Every employee probably feels a little bit better about their job in Coffee County.”

At the meeting Policies and Procedure Committee member Terry Hershman reported that the recommendation by the Ad Hoc Pay and Benefits Committee aimed at resolving some of the county employee pay discrepancies will go before Budget and Finance.

The Ad Hoc Committee recommended in essence that each county department head or elected official research related pay grades in comparable counties and report pay discrepancies to Budget and Finance.

Once all of those requests are presented and a total picture of what the county is facing, the Committee would then work to fund increases.

Members of Budget and Finance voiced the combined support of fixing pay raises, but cautioned that if the cost to the county is too much, it would possibly need to be spread over several budget cycles.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.