Jackson City Council passes budget without changes after much debate

In the conclusion of the city of Jackson's budget discourse, a 6-3 vote by the city council moved the budget forward at Friday's special-called meeting.

Friday's vote ensured the council will meet the comptrollers's timeline for submission, ahead of the August 31 deadline.

Over the last several weeks, salary increases, the incoming downtown homeless shelter and road repairs were among the concerns raised by council members and residents alike.

The budget ultimately passed with the proposed raises and funding for the men's homeless shelter both intact.

"The tough thing that nobody really wants to say is, you don't build the homeless shelter if you can't afford it," Councilman J.P. Stovall, District 1, said in a Thursday meeting at Town And Country Realtors.

"I want it but I don't want to build it for $465 a square foot."

Sentiments about salary increases echoed a concurrence that city employees deserve a raise, but borrowing money to fund them is where some council members expressed reservations.

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"This is almost embarrassing what we're going through and putting our employees through," Councilman Johnny Dodd, District 2, said.

A council member of more than 20 years, Dodd defended the salary increases, saying that employees have been overlooked for several years and that departments are underpaid.

"We are sorry that you all have been brought into this political mess," Dodd said, speaking to employees.

Roped into the budget conversation is a $7 million bond issue for street repaving, with approximately $3.6 million to be utilized this fall. The remainder will be used in spring for contracted paving, which is when the city's new paver is scheduled to arrive.

This does not include state-operated roads like the 45-Bypass or Highways 70, 18, or 40.

Streets to be resurfaced are determined by the Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PSER) analysis and based on a scale of one to ten, one being the most in need and ten being freshly paved.

Priority 1, 2, and 3 streets are scheduled to be addressed first.

It was discussed in the June work session that bids for road resurfacing were taken before the city settled on a contract with Delta Contracting Company for $3.6 million. The budget was technically zero because the city must vote to approve contract bids like the one with Delta.

Councilwoman Marda Wallace, District 9, who consistently shared concerns over a prior lack of allocated road funding, expressed gratitude for the bond issue.

"Mayor Conger has committed to $7.4 million for our roads. Yes I want more, and he knows that, and I will continue to fight for better infrastructure, but because of this commitment, I will vote yes today for our budget," she said.

Sarah Best is a reporter for The Jackson Sun. To support local journalism, subscribe to the Daily Briefing here

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Jackson City Council passes budget without changes after much debate