Kingsport BMA pushes along $114M General Fund budget

KINGSPORT — The Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved several ordinances on first reading related to the fiscal year 2026-2027. The $114,095,101 General Fund budget is balanced with no property tax increase. For the Sullivan County portion of Kingsport, property tax is expected to remain at $1.6763 per $100 of assessed value. A new tax rate will need to be certified for the Hawkins County portion of the city, as it is a property reassessment year. BMA approved the ordinance to adopt the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget on first reading. The second reading and public hearing for the budget will take place at the June 16 BMA meeting. Kingsport City Manager Chris McCartt said department budgets have been slightly adjusted to account for inflation, but otherwise remain flat from fiscal year 2026. "It's hard to have a conversation on this budget, and quite honestly, the past two or three budgets, without having discussion on inflation, specifically wage inflation," he said. "Both of those items continue to dominate both public and private sectors, not only in this region but across the country." McCartt said rising fuel prices are impacting the economy and have the potential to impact city operations and future capital projects. With this budget, three new positions are recommended to be added: two sanitation employees and one position to help with the otter habitat to open at Bays Mountain Park in the future. For the sanitation jobs, one person will come on board in July and the other later in the year. The Bays Mountain Park position will be added in January 2027. A restructuring of the Kingsport Fire Department to decrease overtime hours has allowed six positions to be recommended in the fiscal year 2027 budget. Overall, the KFD overtime budget will be $350,000. "Really appreciate the work that's been done by Chief [Jerry] DeBerry to really bring this home and allow us to present it to you all this year as part of the budget," McCartt said. "It allows us to make necessary adjustments by adding six additional positions within the fire department. We're able to do that in a budget-neutral position, and on top of that, see approximately $150,000 a year in savings." The city's communications department ended all external contracts to create one new full time employee position, and IT made internal budget adjustments to create a new full time employee opening. Body cameras Funding for body-warn cameras for the Kingsport Police Department are also included as part of the upcoming budget. This would be the first time such cameras have been funded for the department, at a recurring expense of $350,000 per year. "You saw this slide in May when we talked about this," McCartt said. "This is ties directly to our strategic plan, and you see the benefits that are there." Some of the 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. "One of the things that we are asked more and more by the new hires coming into the police department is what brand of body cameras do you have," he noted. "This is a far change from what we've heard in the past." At a May budget work session, McCartt said the city is looking at getting the cameras and doing training at the start of the fiscal year, July 1, if approved in the budget.