Budget committee hears from residents about their frustration with proposed property taxes

Community members, some of whom were disgruntled, addressed the June 2 White County Budget Committee about property taxes.

Several county committees meet on the first Monday of each month, but the budget committee was the meeting with the most business to discuss. Even the commissioners who do not serve on the committee attended the meeting.

The budget committee spent approximately two hours attempting to finalize a plan that can be sent to the full court, as they need a budget approved before July 1.

During the discussion, there were many audience members that had questions for the committee and wanted to voice their stance. Questions were raised about the number of employees in various county positions and if those could be cut, about the raises being given to various county positions, in general, and then questions about the recent property tax that has caused a lot of tension between residents and the commission.

For the raises, commissioners like David Cranford pointed out that the same positions in other counties pay higher than White County. In addition, there are some of the lower end positions that pay less than places such as McDonald’s starting pay. While that is comparing a full-time job to a part-time, Cranford believes that is exactly why they should stick to the raises to take care of those that work for the county.

A motion was passed to send the $1.57 tax rate increase to full court, but the courtroom quickly got into more debate. T.K. Austin, Derrick Hutchings, and David Cranford voted yes. Kyle Goff voted no, while Denny Wayne Robinson passed on his vote.

The $1.57 per $100 tax rate was originally planned to be $1.70 in the past, but the commissioners agreed that was too high. Some commissioners still believe that $1.57 is higher than it should be.

Public comments were opened to discuss the cuts the budget committee has made. They have cut an office assistant to the county executive, cut four positions at the Emergency Medical Service office, cut an assistant EMS director, cut four patrol deputies, two mechanics at central maintenance, and two remounts on ambulances all from the planned 2026 fiscal year. It should be noted that these are cuts to the suggested budget, not cuts that remove existing positions.

There had been questions regarding the vehicles for various departments, and Derrick Hutchings explained how that process works for the commission. If they got a new ambulance this past year, that does not mean it was just ordered. The orders operate on a three-year cycle, where the commission receives the vehicle three years after a new one is ordered. This was explained so the public was aware of why the commission is approving new vehicles when some were received this past year.

Commissioner Hutchings also said, “The county is operating on a 2020 budget. We’re funding 2020 prices. Everything has went up.”

He later continued, “We’ve ate all those increases in costs in the last four years, and we’ve not had a single increase in taxes in four years. We’ve toed the line; we funded out of our current budget. The county can’t survive anymore on a 2020 budget.”

Residents then stepped up to the podium, one at a time, to share their opinions to the committee. There were speeches regarding transparency, especially from public government bodies, as well as multiple White County residents voicing their disapproval on the large amount of increase in their taxes. Business owners spoke about how they feel their business and livelihood will suffer due to the increase. While the commissioners were very grateful for the public’s comments, they did feel it was necessary to mention they also pay these taxes. The tax rate will affect them as well as anyone else, but they were still glad to have the public voice their concerns.

There was also a desire among the people to see the full document listing the entire suggested budget, detailing all the cuts and raw data. Commissioner Hutchings mentioned that publications will have numbers and information available, but one man expressed the want for the entire document to be available. Multiple members of the crowd were in favor on that matter.

Another similar wish from the audience was to see the previous year’s spending, so that the public can see exactly what the county spends tax money on. The commission confessed that they were not aware that data like that was not on there for the past year. Derrick Hutchings also pointed out that the budget had $10,000 allocated to upgrade the county website for purposes such as this.

Some of the other concerns among the public included positions they saw as unnecessary such as the full-time emergency management agency director, the building permit system, and the lack of major industry in the county. There were three separate audience members that brought up the matter of industry.

Another major concern was the raises being offered to county positions, as residents did not believe that someone just entering the position should be paid as high as someone with more years and experience. Kyle Goff pointed out that in their budget proposal, this is addressed with a tiered longevity system. There is the 0-to-4-year group, 5-to-9-year group, then the 10 and up group. There is also an incentive for relevant experience, so if someone has worked in a similar position with Putnam County before, they would be paid more than someone that has not.

Many speakers told the commission their new property tax assessments to hammer home the shared discontent, and that was, more than anything else, the biggest common denominator among all the audience speakers.