Union City, Tenn.–The Union City City Counil took action Tuesday night, passing the budget on the first reading. The budget contains no property tax increase, provides the blueprint for all city services for the coming year and grants all city employees a 5 percent pay raise. The budget totals $53,144.900.
The Union City School System’s budget is $22,300,000 of the total. The City’s operating breaks down as follows: $17,829,943 in the general fund. $392,968 in State Street Aid. $32,000 in the drug enforcement fund. $368,000 in Hotel/Motel Tax revenues. $1,897,357 in the Sanitation Fund. $1,212,500 in a direct appropriation from the City to the UC School System. $8,581,180 in water and sewer funds. $530,656 in the Storm Water Fund, according to Mayor Terry Hailey.
In the General Fund, $4.9 Million will come from Property Taxes, $5 Million from Local Sales Taxes, $1.3 Million from the State Sales Tax. That leaves $6.4 from other sources, grants, fees, etc.
There will be a 3% increase in the fee for garbage collection from Platform waste on water bills. The city also appropriated $236,000 as our third of the Obion County Public Library’s budget. The County pays two thirds. $5,500 to the Senior Citizens Center. $1,000 to the Ministerial Association. $10,000 to Boys and Girls Club. $24,000 to Butler Snow, our Nashville Lobby Firm. $100,000 for downtown Improvements which is a carry over from non-spent funds last year.
Capital improvements include $100,000 for LED lighting for the Babe Ruth Field and $50,000 to resurface the Middle School Tennis Courts. There’s also $50,000 for playground equipment and $100,00 for new bathrooms at the Middle School Tennis and Pickleball Courts. The largest items in Water and Sewer include $500,000 for line replacement, $500,000 for Lift Station repair and $500,000 to paint a water tower. In the Hotel/Motel tax, the total anticipated is $368,000 which is a 5% tax that local hotels pay to the city. Those funds to 42% for the Industrial Developemt Corporation, 39% to the Obion County Chamber of Commerce, 14% to Mainstreet Union City, and 5% to our general fund to administer the program. The budget requires only $154,000 from our $9.5 Million fund balance.
City commission also passed a resolution that allows the Shelby County Health facilities board to issue bonds for improvements to Baptist Memorial Hospital in UC. There is no cost to UC government. And, we awarded our street paving contract to Ford Constructon at $896,578. It was the low bid. UC Paving submitted a bid of $1,017,080