The picnic includes Slick Pig barbecue and music
Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr talks about a budget without tax increases
Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr talks about a no-tax-hike budget that will give government employees pay raises of up to 6%.
- The budget cuts bonuses for teachers at schools with staff shortages
- School district grants 2.5% wage increases to cover living costs
- The budget does not provide for an increase in property tax, after an increase of 16.1% was already made last year
- The budget supports the services of 6,800 school district employees and approximately 2,100 government employees
Most government employees in Rutherford County will receive a pay raise of up to 6 percent through July, officials decided Monday.
The increases include a cost-of-living increase of 4.25 percent, higher than the 2.5 percent applicable to county school district employees.
The school district’s 6,800 employees will receive a smaller percentage cost-of-living increase because the Rutherford County Board of Education decided to cover a larger share of the rising cost of health insurance premiums, said district director James “Jimmy” Sullivan.
The Rutherford County Commission approved the salary increases as part of a nearly $895.6 million budget with no property tax increase for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Borough Mayor Joe Carr had originally recommended a 5% cost-of-living increase and incremental salary increases for a Rutherford government with 1,800 full-time and 300 part-time employees. The commission’s Budget, Finance and Investment Committee voted to increase the salary recommendation by up to 6%, Carr confirmed after the meeting.
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The commission also voted unanimously to maintain a property tax rate of $1.8762 per $100 of assessed value. The majority of commissioners had voted 13-8 in favor of a 16.1% property tax increase last year.
The 4.25% cost-of-living increase in the state pay scales will be combined with incremental 1.75% increases for eligible workers, such as those who have not yet reached the highest pay scale. Most Rutherford government employees, including the elected sheriff, are on the county pay schedule. The property appraiser, county clerk, land registry and road departments, which are also run by elected officials, have their own pay schedules, county human resources director Sonya Stephenson said after the meeting.
Eligible school district employees will also receive phased salary increases. The total budget includes $549.8 million to fund the school district’s core operations.
The overall budget has a deficit of about $12 million at the beginning of the fiscal year to provide funding for three charter schools that will open in August, Mayor Carr said.
Tax relief: The property tax increase of 16.1% does not apply to eligible tax exemption recipients who have already submitted an application
Budget cuts for bonuses for teachers in schools with staff shortages
Before approving the budget, the commission heard Sullivan explain why his district had decided to eliminate stipends (bonuses) of $4,000 each for teachers who worked last school year at schools that are hard-pressed to staff: La Vergne High, La Vergne Middle and Roy Waldron Elementary in La Vergne.
Sullivan said teachers at other nearby schools, La Vergne Lake Elementary and Cedar Grove Elementary, have asked why they also do not receive scholarships.
Blackman Elementary in western Murfreesboro was also among the schools that had difficulty staffing during the 2022-23 school year.
Recruitment of new teachers in the district has improved, making the hard-to-fill scholarships for schools unnecessary, Sullivan said after the meeting.
Who trains students? Teacher shortage weighs heavily on La Vergne High School in 2022-23
The district government picnic takes place at a garbage dump
Mayor Carr announced that more than 350 county employees would attend the county’s first picnic on July 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the end of Landfill Road, where the county is building a solid waste transfer station.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun,” said Carr, who encouraged elected county commissioners to attend the picnic.
The picnic area is located on property where the county has two closed landfills and is adjacent to the private Middle Point Landfill on East Jefferson Pike in the rural community of Walter Hill in Rutherford, north of Murfreesboro.
“No, it doesn’t smell like garbage,” Carr told commissioners. “No, you can’t see the garbage. And yes, I think you’ll enjoy some good barbecue from the Slick Pig and some good music. So I hope you can attend.”
Commission supports $20 million waste disposal plan: “We need a transfer station for Rutherford County”
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