Budget committee meeting discusses sheriff’s department, school system

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Madison County Budget Committee is making some final adjustments before bringing their budget to the commission.

At the Madison County Budget Committee meeting Friday, the discussion revolved around two of the most expensive areas: the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Jackson-Madison County School System.

Those were the only two departments which could not reduce their budget by 3 percent. For the sheriff department, they cited increased costs for inmates.

“We were unable to fully reduce it to 3 percent because of the cost of the increased medical contract and food supplies at the jails,” said Madison County Finance Director Karen Bell.

“We actually kept those numbers the same that we did last year, and that’s why it came out less than 3 percent,” said Budget Committee Chairman Doug Stephenson.

The sheriff originally asked for increased funding, despite the recommendation by the budget committee to cut their budget.

His new budget is just $5,700 less than last year’s budget. For the school system, the committee reduced the maintenance of effort.

“They came out to about $416,000 reduction, based on the number of students,” Stephenson said.

The committee was given the true numbers for reduction in revenues as well.

“10 percent decrease in sales tax, 20 percent decrease in business tax, a 50 percent decrease in hotel-motel tax, and a 24.2 percent in gas tax,” Bell said.

Because of that revenue reduction, the committee made sure to maintain a healthy general fund balance for the future.

“In light of pending litigation we currently have ongoing, so with the action they took today, that allocation will remain at a $1.27,” Bell said.

The meeting ended with praise for the county departments.

“Based on the shortfall in revenues and not knowing what was coming in, they did an exceptional job,” Bell said.

Stephenson warned the budget committee to be cautious with any decision for the next year, while the economy is still volatile.