City Council approves several budget amendments
JACKSON, Tenn. — The Jackson City Council held a meeting Tuesday to discuss several topics.
The topics discussed in the meeting include rezoning a property on West Forest Avenue, changes to Title 8 regarding beer sales and distribution, and also several budget amendments regarding the Library, Parks and Recreation, and the Jackson Police Department.
The Jackson Police Department is receiving an amount of money that was given to all agencies throughout the state based on population.
“Well it’s a grant, so Governor Lee, I can’t remember what the program was that he called it, he called it something,” said Mayor Scott Conger. “He gave non-competitive grants to all the agencies based on populations. So, this is what we received from that grant distribution. It’s enhancing our Shot Spotter network. Also doing some software upgrades and some equipment for our JPD officers.”
The total grant was $783,000 and Shot Spotter will cost about $30,000-$50,000 per area, according to Mayor Conger.
Another budget amendment that was approved was to allow an amount of just over $530,000 for Jackson Transit Authority to help cover costs for the rest of this fiscal year. It was said that without this funding, they would not be able to service the community in ways that they have planned.
“That’s what they had indicated. Now that remains to be seen,” said Councilman Paul Taylor. “What I had hoped to get today, and I didn’t have it, was they’re supposed to provide us monthly reports on their finances. I am not sure if those are getting distributed to us, I have not seen those. That something you will continue to hear me talk about, I have been talking about it for two years now. We need monthly updates from them, we need quarterly looks from their accountant at what they’re doing so that we can make sure the taxpayers dollars are being spent appropriately.”
Mayor Conger says the best thing to do was approve that amount so that people can receive the services that they need, however going forward they will need some questions answered on how they are budgeting.
The approved amount going towards the Library was $20,000 from the city, and the county will provide an additional $10,000. The Parks and Recreation was approved for $28,000 to enhance safety around the parks.
Everything that was voted on today was approved.
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