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Tough Economic Times Affect Cities

City Property Taxes Helping Local Budgets

POSTED: 3:53 pm CDT May 13, 2008
UPDATED: 7:40 pm CDT May 13, 2008

The rising cost of fuel is causing many middle Tennessee counties to adjust their budgets. However, it appears there will not be widespread job cuts in city and county governments.

Video: Budget Crunches Affecting City Governments

The state is in dire straights and expecting thousands of job cuts, but the news isn't nearly as grim for local governments.

Channel 4 performed an unscientific survey and sampled middle Tennessee communities to see how they are dealing with these tough economic times.

City of Columbia:
  • No layoffs at this point
  • No decrease in services
  • There have been two tax increases

    City of Waverly:
  • No layoffs
  • Police and sanitation fuel budgets gone two months early
  • Using rainy day fund, raising health insurance rates

    Sumner County
  • No layoffs
  • Emergency Medical Services, road and sheriff's office may need more money for fuel

    City of Franklin
  • Freeze on new hires
  • Leaving 20 police positions vacant

    Trousdale County
  • Police are within their fuel budget after anticipating increase last year
  • Short of police officers

    City of Murfreesboro:
  • No layoffs
  • Department heads must review budgets and eliminate proposals that aren't mandatory.

    Robertson County
  • No layoffs
  • Minimal tax increase
  • May have fewer police cars patrolling

    Even Middle Tennessee's wealthiest cities are feeling pain from high gas prices.

    City of Belle Meade
  • No drastic cuts in city budget
  • Asking officers not to idle their police cars
  • Get out and walk

    Three other local governments are changing police procedures to save money.

    In Macon County, Lafayette may put two police officers in one car.

    In Fairview, the town is removing the blue lights from the tops of their cars for better mileage.

    In Montgomery County, officers are taking phone reports on non-emergency calls to save gas.

    City and county governments are not in as bad a shape as state government because so much of their revenue comes from property taxes, so it doesn't fluctuate as much.

    The amount of people on food stamps has increase in the thousands over the last year.

    In April of 2007, just over 384,000 households were on food stamps in Tennessee.

    In April 2008, that number had increased to more than 409,000 households, costing the state $10 million more.


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