Jackson County Courthouse, North Side, photo by G. Morgan
AGENDA
--Voting place changes, item 1 on agenda.--
Click on agenda image for an expanded view.
VIDEO SHORT - REVENUE ISSUES
Statement from Tim Guffey, Chair of the Jackson County Commission, Regarding Budget and Revenue; dated May 10, 2019 (Tim Guffey's Facebook Page)
Jackson County is starting
to grow. New industry is moving in and existing industry is expanding
operations and hiring more people. This growth is great for the state and
cities they benefit from the growth but the county has no growth tax in place
and it has caused a massive financial problem.
Over the last six years,
we have lost over a million dollars in TVA in lieu of tax dollars. We DO NOT
receive any sales tax dollars. The two cents collected is earmarked for the City
and County School Systems.
--When you purchase a
driver license the county receives $1.50.
--When you purchase a tag,
the county receives $1.25
Our largest tax revenue is
with land taxes and it is not adequate to operate the county. We have cut out
wasteful spending, and now have 27 fewer employees today than we had 6 1/2
years ago.
The County Commission has
been responsible and has made as many cuts as we can without cutting the
services to our citizens. The County needs a growth tax that will grow as the
economy grows One penny of sales tax will fix the current financial problems
and make a way for paving around a 100 miles of roads per year, repair
dilapidated bridges and continue current services.
Federal grants for
projects are available but we currently cannot meet the match requirement. Most
of the matches require a 75/25 or 80/20 matching funds.
The County Commission’s
hands are tied since we cannot create revenue; therefore, we cannot fix the
problems we have here in Jackson County.
We have to depend on our
local legislators to increase the revenue needed unless they give the County
Commission that authority.
We have kicked the can
down the road for too many years and talked about fixing the problem, but now
is the time to fix the problem.
The people of Jackson
County deserve better roads and safer bridges. The citizens of Jackson County
just deserve better!
My door is always open to
anyone that would like to come in and talk about our budget situation or the
way our County operates.
Regards,
Tim Guffey,
Chairman Jackson County
Commission
VIDEO
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