JC residents call for spending cuts to avoid tax bump

A public hearing for the Johnson City Commission's first budget reading brought to light what matters most to local residents. With the city's proposed property tax hike at the heart of every speaker's comments, a future aquatics facility buildout, spending gripes and accountability were the most frequented topics by members of the public at the commission's meeting Thursday night. With little discussion on what changes may or may not be made going forward, the commission unanimously approved the budget on first reading. What people are saying Tricia Korade, who has said she's running for a seat on the city commission this general election, asked the board to review operating costs for existing facilities she says aren't worth the money. "I do support investment in assets that serve good as a taxpayer, as a finance professional, I struggle to wrap my head around investing and building more large, cost-burdensome assets, like an aquatic center, without taking a hard look at shedding other large cost-burdensome assets," said Korade, before proposing the city look into selling Freedom Hall Civic Center. Leah Bolton, owner of Quantum Leap Trampoline Sports Arena in Johnson City, also urged commissioners to look for opportunities to cut potential bloat in the budget and even called on the board to remove Ball from her post as city manager. Bolton made several claims that public records she's reviewed show that the city's manager's office has an excess in discretionary spending, listing off yearly dollar sums that have not been verified by Six Rivers Media. Mayor Greg Cox talked over Bolton several times, in one instance saying "I appreciate that, but not one bit of that has to do with the budget," to which Bolton replied, "One-hundred-percent it does, that's a lot of money." Other residents, like Charlotte Pubal, voiced their opposition specifically against the first-year debt service for the aquatics facility "We obviously can't afford this aquatic center. If we could afford it, we wouldn't need a tax increase, but we can't afford it. We need to live within our means" said Pubal. "If our taxes are lower than other cities around here, it's because we're smarter. They're dumb if their taxes are more. And that's all I have to say." The only proponent for the aquatics facility who spoke during the public hearing was Johnson City Schools' swim coach Chris Coraggio. "In 2007 we missed the opportunity to establish a landmark aquatic center in Johnson City. Now, people from all over the region spend their money in Kingsport, visiting their water park, competing in their indoor pool, staying in Kingsport hotels, and eating at Kingsport restaurants," said Coraggio, suggesting that a large-scale aquatics facility would have a significant return-on-investment in local tax revenue. The city's proposed $130.9 million general fund budget includes a local tax increase to cover several expenses, including first-year debt service for a new aquatics facility, a $1 million contribution to the city's stabilization or "rainy day" fund and personnel and equipment additions for public works, among others. While the aquatics facility was at the center of most public comments Thursday night, the debt service to begin construction on the facility accounts for less than a third of the total additional budget asks from the city. Many also voiced frustration in public comments about the connection between the $1 million stabilization or "rainy day" fund allocation and the $30 million legal settlement paid out to victims of convicted child sex offender Sean Williams. The settlement costs depleted the city's rainy day fund substantially, creating a need to replenish the account to keep up with state comptroller recommendations. What's next? With the first reading approval, the proposed budget will move on to its second reading, which will be held at City Hall during a special called commission meeting on Thursday at 7 a.m. After a second approval, the budget will have a third and final reading which is currently slated for the commission's next regularly scheduled meeting on June 25 at 6 p.m. A full budget implementation is set for July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. If for some reason the city doesn't meet this deadline, it will operate on a continuance budget until the budget ordinance passes through the three required readings. Changes still can be made to the budget through amendments as commissioners deliberate. The board members' discussion following the public hearing Thursday, however, made it unclear what updates to the budget ordinance — if any — would be made by the second reading.