City officials think state will withhold about $200K
Collecting $500,000 from two lawsuits may have helped the city’s bottom line, but McMinnville officials are anticipating state budget cuts they say will take away from it.
For the past several months, McMinnville leaders have been discussing how state cuts could impact the city. They seriously considered giving voters a chance to raise the local option sales tax from 2 percent to 2.75 percent in a preemptive measure to replace funds, but decided not to rush into a costly election on the issue.
As a state budget inches closer to reality, Mayor Royce Davenport said it appears McMinnville could lose around $200,000. He said those numbers are subject to change.
“Until we get something definite from the state, either one can go up or down,” Davenport said.
While losing $200,000 would land a financial blow, McMinnville collected $500,000 last Friday when two lawsuits were settled. McMinnville received $290,000 from Bedford County for a solid waste disagreement that dated back to the early ’90s. The city also collected around $200,000 from Warren County for jailer fees and city fines which went to the county by mistake.
City officials were scrutinizing estimates from the Tennessee Municipal League describing how state budget cuts may affect McMinnville when compared to state-shared taxes the city has received in the past.
City Administrator Herb Llewellyn said officials would be looking at the state and local budgets more carefully and attempting to better discern exactly what McMinnville may lose and what actions to take.
City officials conducted a Finance Committee meeting May 9 as a kick-off to budget sessions for the 2003-2004 fiscal year. Finance Committee chairperson Patti Nunley said at that time she anticipated budget reviews by individualized city committees prior to final budget approval.