The Clarksville City Council met Monday, July 6 to approve the first reading of the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. SUBMITTED

It took five attempts, but in a Special Session held Monday, July 6, the Clarksville City Council approved the first of two readings of an ordinance that would adopt the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.

The approval failed in four previous Special Sessions.

The budget proposal now moves toward a second vote, with a 10-cent property tax increase in place. The current tax rate of 92-cents per $100 of assessed value would increase to $1.02.

At the close of Monday’s meeting, the council approved the ordinance’s first reading in a 7-6 vote, with the votes of yes coming from Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts and Councilmen Brian Zacharias, Carlos Peters, Tim Chandler, Travis Holleman, Stacey Streetman and Keri Lovato.

The votes opposed were from Councilmen Eric Claunch, Ambar Marquis, Wanda Smith, Jerry Haywood, Jimmy Brown and Joe Shakeenab.

Amendments approved during the Special Session came from Mayor Joe Pitts, Councilmen Keri Lovato and Joe Shakeenab.

The mayor’s amendment has reallocated $350,000 from the Transit Department’s capital fund to its operating funds.

“We’ve frozen all the capital projects,” Pitts said. “So, we’re just moving that back into operating so it will not short them and affect staff.”

Ward 12 Councilman Lovato’s motion was approved to move $2.4 million of funds for a new fire truck for Clarksville Fire Rescue into the Capital Improvement project.

Three of five motions from Ward 11 Councilman Shakeenab were approved, including the reduction of funds in the Human Resources Department by $75,000.

The councilman defended his effort to reduce funding in the departments proposed.

“At the rate we are going right now, if we don’t approve a budget, [the tax rate] is going to be at 92-cents,” Shakeenab said. “So, a whole lot of stuff is going to get cut if we don’t approve a budget. We’re either going to work to try to minimize, or we will stay at 92-cents.”

The council approved Shakeenab’s motion to reduce the budget for the Building Maintenance, Forestry and Tree Board budget by $75,000 and the I.T. Department funding will be reduced by $50,000.

His motions to reduce funding for the Transit Department and the Parks and Recreation Department both failed.

Ward 6 Councilman Wanda Smith opposed reducing the funds needed for city’s transportation needs.

“This will affect the senior citizens and citizens who use the bus to get to work,” Smith said. “We do need our transit.”

Ward 1 Councilman Brian Zacharias said cuts to the Transit Department would make life more difficult for some of the most vulnerable people in the city.

Ward 10 Councilman Stacey Streetman’s effort to reintroduce funds for three main road projects in the city was denied.

“We have to get moving on these infrastructure projects,” Streetman said. She proposed spending $512,500 to fund for one year the Needmore Road project, the Memorial Extension work and the roadwork for Rossview Road.

“Let’s get Clarksville moving,” Streetman said. The vote failed in a 6-7 vote.

In hopes of bringing the tax rate down further, Ward 5 Councilman Ambar Marquis proposed an amendment to reduce the $1.2 million in funding to the Parks and Recreation Department to operate the Ajax Turner Senior Citizen Center. The council voted her amendment down in a 6-7 vote.

Councilman Smith said when the council meets to consider the budget ordinance’s second reading, she will bring a motion to the table to keep the tax rate at 92-cents.

The date of the second reading has yet to be announced.