In one of the longest public hearings on a proposed budget in recent years, members of the Carter County Budget committee and other County Commissioners heard from several local residents and officials regarding pending funding cuts and a projected tax rate increase.

The public hearing on the 2018-19 fiscal year proposed budget lasted nearly an hour and a half, as a total of 18 residents, city officials, and county officials addressed the committee and commissioners. Many of those who spoke voiced their opposition to proposed funding cuts to outside agencies such as the Elizabethton Senior Center, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Elizabethton Parks & Recreation Department. Several spoke against the proposed 9 cent increase to county property taxes.

Among those who took the podium during the public hearing was Elizabethton Senior Center Director Kathy Dula, who asked the committee to reconsider their decision and not cut funding to her agency.

Last year, the Senior Center received $14,584.40 from the county. For the coming fiscal year, the Senior Center requested $23,000 in funding. During the budget process, members of the Budget Committee decided to cut funding to any outside agencies that were not mandated. The Senior Center was one of nine agencies that received an allocation from the county last year that were cut from this year’s budget.

“We are very concerned with that loss of funding,” Dula told the Committee. “It may not seem like a significant amount, but to lose that much will be devastating. I’m asking you to please reconsider.”

Last year, Dula said, the Senior Center served more than 540 local seniors, many of whom are age 75 and older. The Center provides seniors with a fitness room, meals, socialization, and an array of educational programs on topics such as healthcare, depression, safety, elder abuse, and avoiding scams.

Newly appointed Elizabethton City Manager Daniel Estes and Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Director Mike Mains both spoke to the Committee regarding a proposed cut in funding for the Elizabethton Parks & Recreation Department.

Last year, the county allocated $11,394.06 to the Elizabethton Parks & Recreation Department. For the coming fiscal year, Mains submitted a funding request asking for $25,000 for 2018-19. The allocation for the city’s Parks & Rec Department was one of the items removed from the proposed county budget.

According to Mains, more than 60 percent of the people who utilize city park facilities are county residents living outside the city of Elizabethton.

“I have seen, in the 20 years I’ve been here, an increase in county residents using our parks and facilities,” Mains said.

Estes spoke to the group about the city’s concerns with the loss of funding and what it could mean in the future for county residents.

“As you know, Elizabethton provides parks and recreation opportunities to the greater Carter County community, not just city residents, and Carter County has been a partner with the City in this,” Estes said. “Unfortunately, the cuts to funding in the proposed fiscal year 2018-19 budget threaten this partnership, and City Council must consider alternatives to cover the costs of providing facilities and programs to county residents who do not live in the city.”

“One such option being evaluated is requiring user fees of non-city residents,” Estes continued. “It is my belief that the City Council does not wish to impose user fees, but is considering it as a last resort.”

Both Mains and Estes asked the committee to reconsider the proposed cut and restore funding to the Elizabethton Parks & Rec Department.

Some residents, like Mary Lee Williams and Jim McGee, said they opposed a tax increase because they believe the county is not providing adequate services now.

“I’ve paid taxes for nearly 50 years at the same residence, and I can’t see that we’ve gotten squat,” Williams said. “I don’t feel like my taxes should be raised because I feel I don’t get anything for it now. I think it’s a disgrace.”

Several residents — including Mark Blevins, Scott Snell, and David Burleson — shared his concern for individuals who struggle to pay their property taxes.

“We’ve got people on a fixed income, and it seems like every time we turn around they’re raising taxes on us,” Blevins said. “I think it’s time we quit putting everything on the citizens.”

Kristi Carr called for cuts to the Sheriff’s Office and jail budgets, stating that family interventions, drug rehabilitation programs, education, and better wages are more effective in deterring crime than incarceration.

“Over 50 percent of the budget is going to the jail and Sheriff’s Office,” Carr said. “Are you kidding me? Is this what we want our community to be?”

Not all of those who addressed the Committee spoke against the proposed tax increase.

“I believe that you should raise taxes,” Susan Powell said. “I was raised in a generation where you didn’t get something for nothing.”

Powell said she lives in the county but enjoys using city amenities such as the parks.

“For me to get something for nothing means that someone got nothing for something, and that’s not right, and it’s not American,” Powell said. “We need to pay for what we use. We are not freeloaders.”