No tax increase planned in Kingsport 2027 budget proposal

KINGSPORT — The Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen met Monday to further prepare the fiscal year 2027 budget. Board members and other city officials heard updates on the FY 2027 general budget fund and a financial overview of Kingsport utilities, as well as priorities and recommendations for both. Kingsport Chief Financial Officer and City Recorder Travis Bishop also presented on current economic indicators and the financial health of the general fund. On Thursday, the BMA will hear more about the Kingsport City Schools portion of the FY 2027 budget. The budget is expected to be submitted for advertisement in the Times News on May 20, with budget ordinances and readings to follow in June. No tax increase planned Kingsport City Manager Chris McCartt said the FY 2027 $114 million general fund budget is balanced with no tax increase proposed at this time. He said the city is waiting to see what the Hawkins County portion of Kingsport's tax rate will be. The Sullivan County portion of Kingsport's property tax remains at $1.6763 per $100 of assessed value, according to the presentation shared Monday. "It's a reassessment year for Hawkins County, and so we are waiting for them to send us a certified rate," he said. Alderman James Phillips asked for McCartt to provide context for the community and those in attendance as to what revenue from the tax rate increase covered in FY 2026. McCartt called FY 2026 a "reset" for the city budget, making up for the impact of earlier revenue loss. The tax increase helped cover infrastructure, paving and providing competitive employee pay. "As a result, you saw the 33 cent tax increase, and with that, it went to fund infrastructure, largely the bond issuance that we did of over $10 million for schools, roads," he said. "You saw that restore the paving money that we historically identified we funded through the AEP franchise fee, that really got muddied over those two years of revenue loss." Fire department overtime McCartt said one of the bigger adjustments made for FY 2027 would be cutting back on the Kingsport Fire Department's overtime. Through a department restructuring effort, the decreased overtime would result in around $150,000 a year in savings to make those changes. According to McCartt, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service helped Kingsport do a study on the fire department. He said both the MTAS study and KFD Fire Chief Jerry DeBerry took note of how the minimal staffing levels at fire stations have impacted total hours on the clock. Reports, as estimated and included in the presentation, mentioned previous KFD overtime averaged between $900,000 and $1 million annually. "This was a complex analysis that took months to get to this decision, and we believe that where we're at without increasing our overtime allows us to be able to manage that and then still leave some in there," he said. Six new positions for the department have been recommended in the FY 2027 budget, which would be funded through the overtime reductions and savings. The overtime in budget in FY 2027 is expected to be $350,000, according to the presentation. Body cameras Police body cameras were also a topic at Monday's meeting. McCartt said body-worn cameras for local officers have long been a conversation point. The new technology would be funded for the first time for the Kingsport Police Department at a recurring expense of $350,000 a year — with the cost including the in-car camera package, too. McCartt said the cameras tie back into the city's overall strategic plan for being a safe and welcoming community, as well as offering "a tremendous amount of benefits" to KPD. Some of those benefits listed in the presentation include liability reduction, recruitment and retention, enhanced safety, accountability, evidence gathering, investigation time reduced and use of a state contract. New police recruits have been asking the department about what technology they use. "The new recruits that are coming in, whether they've come from a different agency, or they're entering this field for the first time," McCartt said. "The chief told me that in the interview they ask, 'What model body cam do you all use?' We've not been able to respond to that because we haven't had it." McCartt said staff are recommending to buy the cameras off the state contract Axon, which the city works with already. The largest expense in the contract would cover data storage for the cameras. Alderman Colette George asked about the timeframe on when the cameras would be available and ready for use by local law enforcement. McCartt said the city is looking at getting the cameras and doing training at the start of FY 2027 — July 1. "We're going to fund this first year through moving around of some dollars within the fiscal [2027] budget, continue to make adjustments throughout the year to build up enough funds to see this be reoccurring," he said. City Attorney Bart Rowlett said KPD body-warn camera footage would be subject to public records request, with some exceptions. He stated, for example, if the footage is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation, those records are not subject to disclosure.