The Greene County Budget and Finance Committee accepted budgets presented by the Greene County Solid Waste and the Greene County Health departments during a meeting Wednesday morning.
The county is in the process of creating its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and Greene County Director of Accounts and Budgets Danny Lowery said Wednesday morning that the budget will be balanced and will not contain a property tax increase.
The budgets were accepted by the committee, but not given final approval. The committee will review all budgets once all departments have presented to the committee.
The budget for the Greene County Health Department, which is partially funded by the state government, was unchanged as far as local contributions to the department.
Interim Health Department Director Rebekah English told the committee that the local budget for the department was remaining the same.
“I am not asking for an increase,” English said.
English noted that the new Greene County Health Department, built utilizing millions in state grant funding secured by the Greene County government, would be open on schedule this summer around the first week of July.
She told the committee that she was thankful for the county’s support of the department through the construction process. She was also complimentary of the architecture firm chosen by the county to oversee the project and the construction firm chosen Benefield Richters and Merit Construction respectively.
Rebekah English
The budget presented by the Solid Waste Department did include some changes, including a net $197,600 increase in the transfer station budget. A total of $125,000 of the increase is due to increased “tipping fees,” which are the fees for disposing of waste at the landfill in Morristown. The Morristown landfill has been where Greene County and Greeneville have disposed of household garbage for years. Another $55,000 of the increase in the budget is due to the increased cost of diesel fuel and machinery parts. Other parts of the budget decreased.
The waste pickup budget includes an increase of $73,520, mainly for truck driver and overtime pay due to the department having to go to convenience centers more frequently to collect waste as the county’s population grows and the more garbage is produced by county residents.
In March, nearly 1,300 tons of garbage were collected at Greene County’s convenience centers.
According to Greene County Solid Waste Director Jim Greene the average county resident generates about one ton of garbage per year, an average of over four pounds a day.
The budget for the county’s convenience centers included several grant proposals. The funding amounts were included in the budget as placeholders for if the department receives over $200,000 in grant funding for improvements at Debusk, Walkertown and West Greene centers.
A roughly $19,000 increase was included in the budget for attendant pay as the department will have Walkertown and West Greene open an additional day, in addition to a having third convenience center open an additional day. The third center has not yet been chosen as the department is in the process of reviewing each center’s gate traffic and tonnage collected.
The department’s sanitation management budget included several increases and decreases, with the budget including a net increase of $44,450. Over $25,000 of the increase is due to rising equipment, fuel, repair and supply costs. Another $17,000 of the increase is due to increased disposal fees and training costs for mechanics.
