council voted it down a third time<\/a>\u00a0with a 6-7 vote. The proposed property tax rate at the end of the meeting was $1.03, an 11-cent increase.<\/p>\nLast week, on June 29, the City Council voted it down a fourth time with another 6-7 vote. The proposed property tax rate remained at a $1.03 at the end of the meeting.<\/p>\n
Mayor reduced proposed tax rate hike<\/p>\n
Monday night, Pitts introduced an amendment that lowered the proposed rate to $1.02 after the reallocation of $350,000 from the capital budget to operating. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just moving the allocation back into operating out of the capital budget,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had frozen all the capital projects, so we\u2019re just moving that back into operating so it will not short them and affect staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilwoman Keri Lovato reintroduced an amendment to fund $2.4 million back into Clarksville Fire Rescue for a needed fire truck. She said previously the move would not raise the proposed property tax rate.<\/p>\n
City of Clarksville CFO Christen Wilcox confirmed that if the council approved the capital project, they could eventually move it back into the city\u2019s general fund, when applicable.<\/p>\n
The amendment was unanimously approved.<\/p>\n
Proposed $300,000 in reductions, department heads address council<\/p>\n
Councilman Joe Shakeenab introduced an amendment to cut $300,000 across five departments.<\/p>\n
A reduction of $75,000 was proposed for the city\u2019s HR department\u2019s general fund budget. Reductions of $75,000 was also proposed for Building and Maintenance, Forestry and the Tree Board.<\/p>\n
Shakeenab proposed reducing the city\u2019s IT budget by $50,000, as well as Parks and Rec and Transit. Lovato introduced a motion to separate each proposed reduction, which was approved.<\/p>\n
Each department head made their case on how they would be affected with the reductions. <\/p>\n
Deputy Human Resources Director Kristi Ohlschwager said that the $75,000 reduction would affect travel and certifications for the HR department, as well as the operational functionality for two new employees being transitioned over from other departments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IT Director Amie Wilson said if her department were to make cuts, network equipment and laptop lifecycles would be affected. She also said the city\u2019s network upgrade project could be put on hold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy budget has already taken a hit for $104,000,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cTotal operating, this would put me at $154,000 less than last year.\u201d Councilwoman Stacey Streetman asked Wilson if the $50,000 reduction would create a compound issue with $160,000 already cut out of the budget for new nodes planned for two out of the city\u2019s four servers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson said while the dollar amounts are in different funds, the reduction would create a compound problem. \u201cIt could affect our employees and how they operate with the public, because their machines may run slower,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shakeenab asked\u00a0if the $50,000 reduction would create a mission-failure scenario.\u00a0She said it would not, however, less things would get done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Director of Transit Michael Ringgenberg was asked if the $50,000 reduction would affect any grants they\u2019re looking to match.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already put a lot of grants in jeopardy. We\u2019re going to have to roll them to next year is what we\u2019re going to have to do,\u201d he said. \u201cWe started off with $866,000 in CIP, and I\u00a0think I was just told we\u2019re at $66,000. So, we\u2019ve taken $800,000 off the top, which is going to change the way we do business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ringgenberg said Transit budgeted more money this year for planning because of projects like the new hospitals coming to the community, and the planned 254,000-square-foot, four-story Clarksville Multi-Specialty VA Clinic. \u201cWith no new FTE\u2019s, we\u2019re going to have to figure out how to do more with less. That\u2019s where the planning dollars come into play, because we\u2019re going to have to take the system apart then try to figure out how to add a route to Exit 11 with no increase in staffing, no increase in vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can play the game however we want to do this; if it\u2019s a $50,000 cut, we\u2019ll make it work. Is it going to be staff at this point in time? I would say no, but before tonight\u2019s over, I\u2019m sure we\u2019re all going to be reducing staff.\u201d Ringgenberg said he can\u2019t be sure staffing won\u2019t be affected until his department has a chance to sit down to look at the ripple effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shakeenab asked if the $50,000 reduction would create a mission-failure scenario. Ringgenberg said no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Council approved each cut except those to Transit and Parks and Rec.<\/p>\n
Amendment financing 3 road projects for $10 million<\/p>\n
Councilwoman Stacey Streetman proposed an amendment similar to the one she introduced last week to fund road improvements for Needmore Road, Memorial Drive Extension, as well as Rossview Road, all for one year.<\/p>\n
Needmore Road project \u2013 $4.7 million.<\/p>\n
Memorial Drive project \u2013 $4.5 million.<\/p>\n
Rossview Road project \u2013 $1 million.<\/p>\n
Concerns over $200 million in City debt<\/p>\n
Lovato said she has concerns with the debt associated with the move. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a debt problem, and we are not asking enough questions about how much debt we\u2019re going into. This is over a million and a half dollars we\u2019re adding into the debt, with no clear 5-10 year forecast of what this is going to do future tax rates,\u201d she said. \u201cUntil we fully understand as a council what is going on with our debt, we should not keep approving these projects.\u201d <\/p>\n
Councilwoman Wanda Smith asked if the City of Clarksville has access to borrow more money, or if the city had met their borrowing power. Wilcox said in Tennessee, there is no limit on how much you can borrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, for me forecasting what we are spending in debt for our fiscal health, we have definitely met that. We\u2019re at least in $21 million a year in debt service, and I\u2019m not comfortable with any more than that,\u201d Wilcox said. <\/p>\n
Smith asked why, and Wilcox said because the city can\u2019t have a tax increase now just to support the $20 million they already have in debt service, along with the inflation each city department is feeling. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust to throw out, too, the State of Tennessee has projected that sales tax revenue will be flat, there will be no growth in it. So, our revenues, some of them are slowing down quite a bit, outside of property taxes,\u201d Wilcox said.<\/p>\n
When asked if she believes the city has issued too much debt, Wilcox said, \u201cI can tell you it keeps me up at night.\u201d <\/p>\n
Wilcox said debt issued from 2009 will have its last debt payment in 2027.<\/p>\n
Councilman Tim Chandler said based off feedback from constituents, he\u2019s not voting in favor of the proposed amendment. Councilman Jerry Haywood said Needmore Road is falling apart, and the project needs to be considered for approval.<\/p>\n
The City Council voted down the amendment 6-7.<\/p>\n
Proposed reduction of $1.2 million for senior center<\/p>\n
Councilwoman Ambar Marquis introduced an amendment to cut $1.2 million from Parks and Rec\u2019s planned senior center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city will not be able to utilize this until well into December, maybe the next new year, in which case it\u2019s just money that will potentially be just sitting in our account. We can\u2019t utilize the building until court proceedings, so I would rather see this bring the tax rate down,\u201d Marquis said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, that\u2019s the logic here. We can\u2019t use it, it\u2019s just going to sit there until something happens in either court, or we get new council and mayor seats come January,\u201d she said. Marquis\u2019 amendment was voted down 6-7.<\/p>\n
First reading of budget passes<\/p>\n
Before voting on the first reading of the budget, Lovato said while she still doesn\u2019t believe the budget before them is the final product, she will be voting in favor of it because the council needs to move forward.<\/p>\n
The FY 2026-27 budget was approved 7-6. Voting in favor were Brian Zacharias, Carlos Peters, Chandler, Travis Holleman, Streetman, Lovato and Pitts.<\/p>\n
Voting against were Eric Claunch, Marquis, Smith, Haywood, Jimmy Brown and Shakeenab.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next in budget approval<\/p>\n
Smith said going into the second reading, she will propose an amendment for the property tax rate to remain at $0.92.<\/p>\n
The day and time for the second reading of the FY 2026-27 budget has not been announced.<\/p>\n
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