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Pettus Read

by Alexandra Edwards
The Bradley County Commission rescheduled their regular work session to Cleveland Community College on Saturday April 26th for their Spring retreat. Commencing at 8: 30 am, the main topic on the agenda was the 2003-2004  preliminary budget.
County Executive Gary Davis and accountant Ron Arnett briefed commis

sioners on each line item of the projected General Fund budget and Debt Service obligations. They also gave an estimate of projected county property tax collections to give commissioners an idea of available revenue for fiscal year ending June 30, 2004. 
Because not all department heads had supplied their budget requests, including the two largest departments, County School system and Sheriff's Department, an accurate estimate could not be calculated.
After reviewing budget projections Gary Davis told commissioners that even without the expected increase in school funding the county will have a $2.1 million deficit which would translate into a 16.5 cent per $100 assessed value  tax increase. He said that he sent out letters to all depart

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ment heads asking them not to increase budget requests over last years level. Of the 66 departments in the county, 44 complied with his request, some department budgets came in lower than last year.
Davis gave commissioners a list of five questions they should ask themselves prior to making a decision on setting funding levels.
(a) Can the county feasibly fund all services adequately?
(b) Shall the county fund basic services adequately and other services partially?
(c) Shall the county partially fund all services?
(d) Shall the county adequately fund basic services, partially fund some services, and eliminate funding others?
(e) Where will the county draw the line as to funding services in times of financial recession?
Also discussed were revenue generating options, an increase on hotel/motel tax of 1 or 2% was debated, with it being placed on the agenda for vote at the next commission meeting, Monday May 5 at 7pm at the courthouse. Also discussed was a resurrection of a county wheel tax. Senator Jeff Miller refused to sponsor a bill for a private act to increase the hotel/motel tax by 1% the last time it was proposed by the County Commission.  At the time there was intense lobbying against the measure by local hotel owners.
Previously the wheel tax was eyed as a form of revenue but was unpopular with the voters. Two other forms of revenue discussed were vending machines at the justice center and building permits for mobile homes. Davis said that as we are going through a recessionary period and commissioners have shown an unwillingness to raise the property tax, the only alternative would require cuts in all department budgets. Davis reminded commissioners that the two main priorities selected at the fall retreat, were a new heating and air system for Bradley Central High School and money to repair bridges in the county. Road Superintendent Tom Collins asked that increases in salary be considered for road service personnel to bring them up to the wage level of other counties of Bradley County's size. He also asked for funding for the addition of an engineer for the road department as the county engineer could not handle the workload because of the new water run off regulations.

April 2003

The People News can now be read online at www.ThePeopleNews.com. The new website is one of two being launched this month in an effort to better serve our readers and the Cleveland/Bradley business community.
The People News website has links to all the feature writers articles, plus editorials, letters to the editor and the popular joke and funny pages. Each month will feature an instant vote survey on an important topic affecting the community that cannot be found in the printed version. This months survey asks if readers would support a property tax increase to pay for Bradley Central High School renovations. All issues of The People News from April 2003 will be archived on the website for easy one click access.
The other site being launched in the middle of this month is Cleveland/Bradley Business Online at www.Cleveland BradleyBusiness.com. Cleveland Bradley Business Online is a free service directory and listing of local businesses and more. The service directory and listing is absolutely free to all area businesses and will contain links to custom web pages that feature products and services of the individual business. Consumers will be able to evaluate products and services that cover the entire business spectrum: restaurants, car dealers, financial institutions, doctors, in fact any service or product available in Bradley County.
For the business owner,  Cleveland Bradley Business Online will provide a free marketing tool with the option of renting regularly updated web pages at minimal cost.  There are areas on the site dedicated to free online seminars for those that want to improve their business techniques. There will be articles and interesting business advice. Also an ask the expert e-mail exchange facility is available that will allow for questions to be asked and advice to be given. The business community as a whole is encouraged to share with others, articles and snippets they find useful as well as ask questions or offer advice. Communications can be sent with a simple click of the e-mail link on the home page. 
Visit the website, if you are not a member and the name of your business is not listed, call 559-2150 to be added to the service directory and listing. It is a free service sponsored by The People News of Bradley County.

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