No tax increase in proposed Middlesboro budget

June 04--Middlesboro Mayor Bill Kelley presented his proposed city budget during a special-called city council meeting on Tuesday. The council held the first reading of the budget during the meeting. This year's budget contains no proposed tax increases for the coming year, which is a trend that has followed the mayor's budgets over the past few years.

"I credit our ability to remain at the same taxation level to a variety of factors, but chief among them would have to be the work of our department heads," said Kelley in regards to the lack of a tax increase.

According to Kelley, the budget fully funds the health insurance program and continues participation in the state retirement system, which includes hazardous duty retirement for qualifying employees. The budget also contains funding for the traditional "longevity" pay increase for all full-time city employees.

In his budget statement, Kelley also mentioned his strong support of Discover Downtown Middlesboro. The budget funds another year of Main Street Director Isaac Kremer's salary, along with coal severance funding for DDM.

"We will continue to work with this organization in their efforts to revitalize our downtown area," said Kelley.

The budget letter states the 50 percent increase in funding for condemned house disposal originally proposed last year has been retained this year. The budget also provides money for the maintenance and improvement of city parks, and the city pool will continue to be free of charge.

There has also been money appropriated for a pilot program to repair sidewalks in residential areas. Kelley said the sidewalk issue is currently under the consideration of the council and questions of ownership, legality and liability will have to be examined before initiating the program.

One of the most noticeable changes in the budget involves the ambulance department. The city now provides a full-time Advanced Life Support service. This year, the employees serving as paramedics only will have their salaries budgeted directly from the ambulance budget along with the related payroll costs, which will result in a substantial decrease in the fire budget and a corresponding increase in the ambulance budget.

The budget letter states some budget items have either increased or decreased for reasons such as vendor rate changes or anticipated usage. Salaries in each department were calculated based on current or planned employment levels.

Retirement rates decreased slightly for both hazardous and non-hazardous personnel, 1.39 percent and 1.22 percent respectively.

The mayor said he believes the city is still in a very strong position financial wise.

"Our occupational tax receipts have increased and based on analysis of these receipts and conversations with local employers, I estimate that nearly 300 new jobs have been created in Middlesboro over the last two years," said Kelley.

Kelley said other revenues are remaining steady and the city has maintained a very good collection rate.

"This is important because focusing on strict enforcement of collection procedures ensures that no taxpayer is forced to pay more than his or her fair share," said Kelley.

Anthony Cloud can be contacted at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN.

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