John Coffelt, Editor

With a second reading, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a $19,705,129 budget that is expected to end with a $1 million surplus for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

This surplus comes at a time when surrounding municipalities are struggling to break even.  

Chairman of the Finance Committee Thomas Crosslin said, “I’m proud to be a small part of passing a balanced budget for our City. The Mayor and the Department Directors have done a great job in being fiscally responsible while not sacrificing city needs. Our Town is financially secure and our future is bright.”

The budget passed the final reading 4-1 with Alderman Julie Anderson voting no.

Alderman Julie Anderson said, “I have never voted for the city’s annual budget due to its allocation to the Conference Center.”

 The city announced in the statement, “We have no need for a property tax increase, nor do we anticipate one in the future. Our budget is well planned and well-funded thanks to the hard work of department heads, our Finance Director & team, and the BOMA finance committee.” 

The expected revenue is an estimated $20,375,600

According to a statement from the city, while this budget does not include an employee pay raise, for the last two years, the city has given 17% across the board in raises.

“This year our focus has been to reduce employee turnover rates and to award employees for their longevity in their positions. This result in efficiency in services for taxpayers and efficiency in offsetting the expense of loss of training hours and dollars,” the statement reads.

Longevity supplements include raises in five-year increments: $.50 for those with 5 years, $1.00 after 10 years, $1.50 after 15 and so on. Employees with 30-40 years of service will receive $3, $3.50 and $4 per hour raises accordingly.

Aldermanic pay of $250 a month and the mayor’s annual salary of $9,600 will not increase.

The budget will absorb the cost of employee insurance that increased by 14.5%, so it will be at no additional cost to employees. 

Tourism Department created

The city has created a Tourism Department funded by Occupancy Tax, otherwise called the Hotel/Motel Tax.

In the current budget, this revenue is estimated to be $945,000. Since the creation of the tax, it has been split three ways, $120,000 to the Tourism Committee, $234,000 to the Parks and Rec. budget and the remaining $500,000 to the city’s general fund.

With the creation of the Tourism Department, a new Director of Tourism position was created that will report directly to BOMA.  

That (as of yet unannounced) director will supervise the director of the Conference Center that will be called the Manchester Event / Visitor Center and the director Manchester Parks and Recreation.

The city says that this way oversight can directly control the spending and have complete and total insight over the conference center.

The conference center will be treated as any other city department with direct oversight and accountability.

City Donations Increase

This year’s budget included increases to local non-profits, Coffee County Senior Center’s contribution will go from $10,000 to $20,000, the Coffee County Child Care Center from $3,000 to $5,000, the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center from $9,000 to $9,270, Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center from $2,000 to $4,000 and Haven of Hope from $5,000 to $7,500.

Manchester City Schools will see a $750,000 increase in contributions, from $1,858,467 to $2,608,467 million. Most of this increase is for teacher pay.

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.