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Knox County's Proposed Budget Sticks To Basics

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Education, highway paving, payroll expenses. Most of the money allocated in Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett's proposed FY 2017 budget is directed toward the necessities of county government and services.

"This budget isn't sexy," Burchett said in a morning budget announcement, "But that's the way it should be."

More than sixty percent of the budget is dedicated to the $453.5 million Knox County Schools budget submitted earlier this year. That amount was proposed at the school board level, and represents a $15 million increase over the current fiscal year.

About $3 million is set aside for paving projects across the county. In a conversation with WUOT All Things Considered host Brandon Hollingsworth, Knox County Finance Director Chris Caldwell estimated the amount, combined with state money, will be enough to pave 35 to 40 miles of county-maintained roads.

Starting this summer, county budgets will also have to take into account the loss of income from the Hall Tax. Last month, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law phasing out the tax over the course of the next several years. The gradual stepdown will likely cost the county half a million dollars a year, Caldwell said. He said the change was anticipated, and that county leaders have budgeted with the income loss in mind.

The budget plan also includes a $200,000 infusion for a substance abuse treatment center designed to be funded by city, county and state sources.

"Addressing mental health and addiction shouldn’t be a political football, and it won’t land us a flashy Nashville TV show, but it’s the right thing to do," Burchett said. "It’s an issue that affects mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. It affects the homeless and the affluent. And it affects our military veterans."

The county money isn't enough to cover all operating expenses. Caldwell says local leaders plan to continue working with state officials to get full funding for the center. Incumbent sheriff J.J. Jones says he hopes to get the facility up and running by 2018.

The FY 2017 budget includes shares for increases in county employee health care costs ($700,000), funding for arts and culture programs ($375,000) and additional voting machines and election officials ($400,000). The latter is designed to avoid the long lines that formed at polling stations in the county's March primary. The improvements are planned to help in time for the November presidential election.