Funding for an economic report prepared by a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga professor was approved Tuesday.
The report would involve a five-year financial plan estimating the city’s future revenue and spending, as well as a similar 10-year forecast. The idea, spearheaded by council member Chip Henderson of Lookout Valley, comes from a desire for the City Council to have a wealth of knowledge heading into budget season, Henderson said.
“I felt like it was important for this council to have their own independent researcher,” Henderson said during last week’s meeting.
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Chris Acuff, a state-certified finance officer who specializes in public policy research, will be paid $200 an hour to ready the report by Jan. 6, with about a $20,000 ceiling on what he’ll be paid total. As a UTC professor, Acuff has worked with the city and the county on past analysis projects.
The city operates with a $390 million budget after approving a property tax increase in September, adding an extra $45 million onto what the council had originally approved over the summer — which Henderson pointed to as one of the reasons why he’d like an outside source to advise the council. He said there were frustrations with the way last year’s budget season progressed.
This past summer involved a second look at property taxes and an eventual tax increase to account for fire and police pay raises and other items on Mayor Tim Kelly’s wish list, after the original budget was passed. With this report, the council might be better able to predict where it needs to raise wages and alter revenue sources as the years progress, Henderson said.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga City Council makes Kelly’s tax increase official)
“My hope is that we would … at least keep this council from being in the same situation as we found ourselves in this past year,” Henderson said. “It just gives us a better understanding of what we need to plan for in order not to hand off some ticking time bomb to future councils.”
The city auditor, Stan Sewell, produces financial analyses each year, a fact Henderson acknowledged, but he also pointed out Sewell has said in the past that those analyses shouldn’t be the only resource used to assess the fiscal health of the city.
Last week, council member Ron Elliott of Missionary Ridge raised concerns about how much the council was going to pay Acuff, suggesting the council eventually consider hiring its own staff that could provide financial research year-round without a $200 hourly price tag. It’s not the first time Elliott has suggested adding staff who specifically answer to the council. Most city staffers who provide information to the council work for the Kelly administration.
Contact city and county reporter Siena Duncan at [email protected] or 423-757-6354.
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