By Bill Grubb

ROGERSVILLE — Balancing this year’s budget without a tax increase meant cutting some budget  line items.   A resolution to be considered later this month would ask Hawkins County Commissioners to put their own compensation under the budget ax.   

Commissioners are slated to consider adoption of the 2008-09 budget, which is based on maintaining the county property tax rate at $2.61 per $100 of assessed property value, at an August 25 meting.

    Rather than raise taxes, Budget Committee members drafted a spending plan that included a goal of reducing contributions by 10 percent and placed a  freeze on any new contributions.

    “We are asking everyone to make cuts and tighten their belts, I  think we should all be willing to step up to the plate and do the same,” Commissioner Danny Alvis, sponsor of the resolution, said.

    Currently, the 21 commissioners receive $90 for each regular monthly meeting, with members paid $50 for most committee meetings.

    The resolution targets one contribution that was not funded, a request for a $3,000 donation from the county to help the Disabled Veterans of America Chapter 59 purchase vans to help transport veterans from local clinics to the VA Medical Center in Johnson City.

    If approved, the resolution would earmark $1,000 of the savings for a donation to the veterans group.

    Alvis also noted the 10 percent reduction will impact fire departments, who will see the amount of money they receive from the county drop from $15,000 last year to $13,500.

    The resolution calls for the remainder of the savings from the pay cut to be divided equally among the fire departments.

    “I never served in the military and I don’t think some of our commissioners ever served, but I think we owe it to our veterans to take care of them after the sacrifices they made for us,” Alvis  said.  “The same goes for our fire departments.   They are out there  volunteering their time and we don’t need to make it harder for them to do what is already a hard job by taking away money.”

    Alvis said it will be interesting to see how all his fellow commissioners receive the resolution.

    “I have already heard from some (commissioners) who say they support it.  I think it will really say a lot about someone’s priorities if  they vote against this,” the commissioner said.

    In addition to the fire departments, other proposed cuts include:

    •  A $5,000 reductions in the allocation for the Church Hill and 
Hawkins County Rescue squads, from  $50,000 to $45,000 each.

    •  A $14,000 cut in the appropriation for Hawkins County’s 911 
center, from $140,000 to $126,000.

    •  A $3,000 cut in the contribution for Church Hill and Hawkins 
County EMS, with each receiving $27,000 in the proposed budget.

    •  A $9,400 reduction in the appropriation for the Hawkins County 
Library System, from $94,000 to $84,600, and a $500 cut in the 
appropriation for the Mount Carmel Library, down from $5,000 to $4,500.

    •  A $1,500 allocation for the Hawkins County Humane Society, which 
will receive $13,500.

    •  A $2,000 reduction in the level of funding for the Church Hill 
and Mount Carmel Senior Centers, down from $20,000 to $18,000 each.