City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. I call the Bristol, Tennessee City Council meeting of June 19th, 2025 to order. Mary Lee, would you please call the role? Yes, sir. Fire Robbin here. Hutton here. Powers here. Baker, here. Turner here. All right. Want to welcome everyone tonight. uh and thank you for attending this meeting. There are a number of opportunities uh throughout the evening for uh members of the community to speak on city business. There was a sheet in the hallway uh that you could fill out as you came into the room, but if you weren't able to fill that sheet out, uh I'll give you another opportunity to speak when it's at that that point. As we move forward throughout tonight's agenda, uh I'll note each time when public is invited to comment and their comment is welcome. Uh we'll do that throughout throughout this night. But there's uh just so you know when we go through those times, there's a there's one point we have appearance of citizens. Uh and so if you filled out you signed up on this sheet, you'll be you'll come up for that. There's other times uh when we're talking about specific things on the agenda uh that we'll ask for public comment. when we when we ask for public comment during those times, we're asking for comment on that specific uh ordinance or resolution. Uh the public the appearance of citizens, you can talk to us about anything at all. But in both cases, you have three minutes and our city manager will keep the time. Uh we'll let you know because there's a lot of folks who want to want to speak. Uh so we'll move through that. We have three public hearings on tonight's agenda. The first is ordinance 25-13. It's an ordinance to adopt the annual budget and tax rate for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026. This uh public hearing is hereby open for ordinance 25-13. Finance Director uh Holly Baron will now present.

Good evening, mayor and council members. An item for public hearing tonight is ordinance 2513 to appropriate the fiscal year 2026 budget. Is that okay? Fiscal year 2026 budget totals. Holly, can you be sure to really talk into Yeah. Okay. Sorry. That's okay. Okay. The fiscal year 2026 budget totals $155 million 339,488 reflecting a 4.1% increase or 6 point 61 6,177,113 from the fiscal 25 budget. This continues all programs and services as in the past while making strategic capital improvements to meet the future needs of the community. It includes police and fire wage increases based on the department analyses, a 4.7% pay increase for for all other city departments and funds for the remaining department analysis implementation. The m municipal government portion totals $95,94,212 reflecting an increase of $4,79,990 $9990 or 5.2% from the fiscal 25 budget. And the school system portion totals 59,435,276 reflecting an increase of1,467,123 or 2.5% from the fiscal year 25 budget. On the next slide, that's just a visual visual presentation of the 2026 budget. Please note the total municipal functions increased by 4.7 million at the 5.2%. And on the next slide, included in the budget is funding for the Bristol Public Library at 1,153,425, which is broken down on this slide, and

that equates to approximately 10 cents to the tax rate or 10%. On the next slide, the budget also includes funding from Bristol City Schools at 5,568,458 and it's comprised of the various amounts on that slide, which includes the operating transfer at $4,765,429. The total funding on this slide represents 49 cents of the tax rate or roughly 26% of it. Um the next slide is addressing some of the concerns and questions that were raised since the first reading of the ordinance and this shows um an item to note in the city manager budget. There were funds to implement the salary increases resulting from the remaining department analyses and are included in the city manager's operating budget here highlighted in yellow. And then there's some also some questions on the next slide addresses some projects that we've that have been received. um those have a minimal impact on the property tax rate. The proposed baseball stadium is a public private partnership using bonding proceeds to leverage private contributions. The debt payment will equate to approximately 2.75 cents of the tax rate. A change from the first reading is the removal of funding for the improvements to the Melrose property and then the LC King property is being purchased with bond proceeds which will be paid through which will be paid for through reallocation of Aoka Library funding and lease savings on office space. Grant funding is being pursued for development of both the T the LC King property and the Shelby lot. And lastly, the visitor center is being constructed by Explore Bristol. Explore Bristol is not funded with property taxes. This organization receives funding from the occupancy tax proceeds which must be used for tourism and marketing. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone in the audience like to

address council on this matter? Let me remind you again. It's on this particular it's on this particular topic. Uh please come to the podium. State your name before making your com comments. Please give your name and your address please. Thank you. Uh Blair Henley, 305 Three Oaks Drive. And this is what I was going to talk about that I signed up for, so I don't need to come back up here. Um well, first I want to thank the the city manager because I've aggravated her pretty good for the last uh several days trying to understand the budget and I attended the work session and really my first question is you've you're going to pass this tax hike. Is the budget balanced? Like is, you know, and and I know like the the school system is not $59 million of this budget. It's the 4 I think 65. So I'm just curious, is the budget balanced? And I believe at the work session it was said that that it's not balanced by a million this year and could be 3 to 6 million next year at the current tax rate proposal the hike. And so I'm just curious is how is that going to be how's that going to be funded next year when I believe you also stated you wanted the tax if you passed this tax hike you wanted it in place for two years. So, I I'm just I I want to understand um is is the budget balanced? Uh and if it's not, what's going to be the plan next year if if you're not planning another uh tax hike or something? So, and and again, I have sent several emails to the city manager and she's responded within 24 hours. Um so, I'm really just I just want to understand I don't understand passing a budget that's

not balanced. Um, I've I've never understood that and I've been responsible for budgets before and I've just never I've never heard of that before. So, that that's what I wanted to say. And you know, really the the the the big confusing part for me was when you say the school system budget, like when you said I think 155 million, well, most of that's coming from other sources like the state uh taxes and the city is contributing I think it's 4.6 something million and then maybe uh a capital expenditure or something. It's like 5.1 or something like that. So, I really just want to know are are we going to balance the budget and what's the plan? You know, if it's not going to be balanced and we're going to pay these extra taxes, you know, what's the plan for next year? Well, I'm I I we we are required to to have a balanced budget. I I think there may be some confusion about what you actually mean by balanced budget. Uh I mean we are required to make sure that we can cover that. Um I think when we um when you came to the work session what we were working through and was the models uh based on what we're what it will look like over the next few years at this particular tax rate uh and how much we would have to sort of lean into our reserve funding in order to make sure that we've we've covered everything. So yeah, and I and and I did she explained that to me that if you look at that one line, the difference in the uh the fund, the the reserve fund, it's in parenthesis, so it's a negative. So it's it's not balanced. I'm well aware you can take it right out of the reserve fund, but then you're depleting that. And if you have three to six million

next year, are we just going to keep taking it from the reserve fund? Well, that that's the thing that we've been trying to to work out while uh recognizing that we've got to keep the tax rate at a place where we are consistently providing the services that our people need as well as uh making sure that we don't tax ourselves out of business. But but yeah, I mean this is just the process that we that we have to go through to uh to do this out. We that's the reason the the reserve funds are in there to help us carry that. And you don't do you have to maintain a certain level of the reserve funds? Yeah, we have to maintain uh at least a 3 months uh reserve in there. And so we that's what we were looking at over the next few years. If we have to lean into our reserve so much at this in the projection uh how how far out can we do that? So that's why if you go back to that uh worksheet that we had out there, that model, we're looking at uh what we'll need to do over the next few years. So, and I think that if if that was somehow explained in the budget sheet, you know, because all I see is it's not balanced. I know that you can pull the funds, but I I think that at least for my confusion, if you just had it line items like, you know, if it's a million dollars in in the city manager's budget, okay, that's fine. What is it for specifically? Like, we're going to use $400,000 for X, $300,000. I think that would stop a lot of the the confusion. Yep. Thank you. All right. Please state your name and address, please. Yes, sir. Uh, Eric Spicer, 433 Maryland Avenue, Bristol, Tennessee. Good to see you, Mayor Hutton. I'm sure you're glad I lost. I know I am. Miss Powers. Uh, good to see you, Miss Fireman. Good to see you.

Uh, Miss Bourgeoa, thank you for the privilege of your time a few weeks ago. Uh, was very brief as this may be as well. Sadly, the visitors center. I have a question about what started the visitors center and how is it how is it funded? I'm going to let city manager speak to that. Thank you. The visitor center is um through explore Bristol. That's our destination. Explore Bristol. Explore Bristol. That's our destination marketing organization. It's uh occupancy taxes are used to fund that and those are um regulated by the state. So occupancy tax can only be used for tourism and marketing. We can't use them for anything else. So there are no property taxes going into that uh and only occupancy tax that can only be used for those restricted purposes. So you have a fund that's uh from other businesses, the taxes from those businesses that's paying for that building at the moment. Is that correct? That's correct. And that that's a separate entity that is both the city of Bristol, Tennessee, the city of Bristol, Virginia. Sullivan County is now participating in that. So that is a an a separate organization, but it is funded in large part by the city. So it's not out of our our fund. Totally. Correct. That's correct. Okay. Very good. Uh why what was the purpose of this building and not maybe acquiring a historic home to uh restore I'm sorry, I don't understand. What was the purpose of having this this train station to nowhere? I know it's a visitor center, but we used to have or at least the historic uh society had at one time the King house that's right behind the courthouse, and they gave it up to an individual. Why not try to purchase one of these Grand Victorians and have those repaired as the visitor center? I can answer. Okay. The King House was no longer available. It had been purchased by a private entity. And in doing the study for the construction

of the visitor center, we were advised that it needed to be uh somewhere highly visible. It needed to have certain square footage. It's uh it will have a lot of digital amenities. It needed a certain amount of parking and the land was actually donated. And so, um it seemed like a good fit to be right there on the corner of Anderson Avenue. Well, the King house was uh had probably just as much square footage uh if it had been restored correctly uh with the Wayne's coating. Well, it was it was already it had already been purchased by a private entity. It was not available, right? I guess the historic society sold it to to the individual that Well, that's that's very sad. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else want to speak ask questions on this ordinance in particular? Ordinance 25-13? Good. All right. Please state your name and your address. Thank you. Uh Timothy Marendino, 404 El Paso Drive. Um I wanted to speak about this uh 25-13 primarily on the numbers. Um, I don't have all the access that you do, but based off of what I'm seeing when we got our assessments and the state set the new rate, the state set the new rate not to equalize, but actually still to increase taxes based off of our 2.25 per 100 that we had originally that you all approved back in September. Um, by my estimates, it was a 22% increase from the assessments alone. Was that calculated into this new budget to reflect that the state's new rate that they placed for Bristol City was actually still an increase from the 2.25 by about 20%. Morw, you want to That's not true. That will be addressed with the next

public hearing with the certified rate, right? But that's not accurate, right? So, we'll we will we will deal with the certified tax rate uh on the next ordinance. My apologies. That's okay. That's fine. Thank you. Thank you. State your name and your address. Uh Carol McCall, 216 Bluff City Highway. Can you pull the microphone? Yeah, there you go. Thank you. Carol McCall, 216 Bluff City Highway, but I go by Denise. Um, my question is, and I'm sure that you guys have spent hours going through the budget, are there things in the budget that aren't necessary? like two electric vehicles, a robot weed sprayer, and I know those two items are only like 145,000, which in retros retrospect to 155 million doesn't seem like a lot, but it's something to detract from that $155 million. Right. We have gone through uh the budget even over the last few days and tried our best to to cut out anything that we possibly could in order to even lower the tax rate. Uh so yes, I mean we've looked at all of those things. There's certain things that are being uh and I can't speak specifically to those two items that you just mentioned, but but Miss Bourge, I can thank you. those two specific items. Um the electric vehicles, it's about a $20,000 impact locally. The rest is grant funded. They are to replace um inspector vehicles because they put on a certain amount of mileage per day. So the cost savings in gas and replacement of the older vehicles that need to be replaced anyways. It was a cost savings to get

the electric vehicles. But is it still a cost savings when things start to tear up on the electric vehicle because batteries are super expensive? And we had our general director of general services who's been overseeing our mechanic, our garage for 30 plus years involved in that analysis of the vehicles to ensure that that actually was cost effective to do. Um, and then additionally, the robotic sprayer takes the place of of staff time. So the I can't but does it take the place of an employee? It takes the place of hours of an employee that then ultimately can either reduce an employee number or reallocate those those hours to another project or or work that needs to be done. Okay. And I didn't go completely through the budget. It's 78 pages. But is there any allocation for um trash services? Poor Laura has to hear from me every week because this past week um our bulk stuff wasn't picked up on Friday. It was picked up this Tuesday because they have two trucks down, you know. And I asked her, I said, you know, does this have anything? Do you have an overabundance of, you know, the forms coming in for pickup? And she said, no, it's because we our trucks are down. So, has something been budgeted to them? Because I'm for things like that. I'm for raises. We live across the street from the central fire station. We watch how hard those guys work. We're all for races. What we're not for is things that may not be necessary. And I know the city of Bristol needs to grow, but in the end, we're still just a community of I'm going to say less than

29,000 people. you know, we're not Knoxville, we're not Nashville, we're not, you know, so I think somewhere somebody needs to maybe get out in the community. Uh we brought a lady that walks a lot with us today. She's 70. She's on a fixed income. She's this scares her to death. you know, all of these increases and this budget, you know, she may not necessarily understand that, but somewhere I think somebody's gotten out of touch with the actual people who live in the town of Bristol. So, [Applause] all right, this public hearing is now closed. A public hearing on the intent of city council to exceed the certified property tax rate of a dollar of 1.5397 by establishing a rate of dollar 92 $1.92. This public hearing is opened for this item. City attorney Daniel Smith will present on this item. Thank you, Mayor and City Council. Uh tonight, I'd like to provide some background on the certified tax rate and the legal requirements involved if we're going to exceed the certified tax rate. State law requires that the county property tax assessor reappraise all property in the county on a regular basis. 2025 is a reappraisal year for Sullivan County, including properties located in the city of Bristol. The value of all the taxable property in Bristol in 2024 was about $744 million. The exact number is on the PowerPoint up at the at your left. After the 2025 reappraisal, the value of all taxable property in Bristol rose to about$ 1.18 billion. So it went from 744 million to 1.18 billion. The overall value of property in Bristol rose by 51%.

During a reappraisal year, state law requires the property assessors and the state board of equalization to provide local governments with a certified tax rate. To arrive at the certified tax rate, these agencies compared property values in the city in 2024 to property values in the city after reappraisal in 2025. The certified tax rate is the tax rate at which Bristol's revenue from the property taxes after reappraisal will equal Bristol's revenue from the property taxes prior to the reappraisal. Um, just as an aside to anticipate the question that Mr. Marendino asked, "This is an incredibly complicated calculation because assessments are done at about six different rates and so you cannot just take 1.18 billion, multiply it by 25, and multiply by the tax rate to come up with the tax that's going to be produced. The the calculations are much more complicated than that. The goal of the certified tax rate law is to identify a tax rate that is revenue neutral for the city. Adopting that certified tax rate does not mean that an individual property taxpayer will pay the same bill as last year. The certified tax rate is only intended to represent the tax rate at which the city's revenue from property taxes remains the same from year to year. When property values increase because of reappraisal, the certified tax rate will be lower than the previous year's tax rate. When property values decrease, the certified tax rate will be higher. In 2024, with property valued at 7.44 44 million. It took a tax rate of 225 to generate 18.4 million in property tax revenue for the city. After the 2025 reappraisal, with property now valued at 1.18 billion, a tax rate of 1.5397 will generate the same 18.4 million in revenue. The city's 2026 budget that we just had a public hearing on and which you will be considering later later on the agenda includes a tax rate of $1.92. This is

higher than the certified tax rate. Obviously, cities are permitted to set a tax rate that is above the certified tax rate. Under TCA section 67-5-1702, the city must publish notice of its intent to exceed the certified tax rate and hold a public hearing before adopting the higher tax rate. Notice of the city's intent to exceed the certified tax rate was published on June 9th, 2025 in the Kingsport Times News and on the city's website. Holding this public hearing is the second step in complying with the certified tax rate law. So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Okay. Would anyone in the audience like to address council on this matter? Please state your name and your address. Yes, sir. Uh Eric, we're dealing with the property. This the tax rate. That's what we're dealing with in this section. Just making sure. Correct. Correct. Eric Spicer, 433 Maryland Avenue, Bristol, Tennessee. Um, so we're talking about the tax rate. You reduced the tax rate from last year. Is that correct? I'm sorry. You reduced the tax rate to 1.54. Is that right? from last year's the the well the certified tax rate has dropped from $1.98 to a dollar $153. Yeah. But that but that's through the state. Yes. All right. But this does this also affects the assessment that we're being that the state is mandating Solomon County do as well as the city. I know it's state law that you have to go with whatever the Sullivan County comes up with. This came this came because of this the assessment done by the county. Correct. What was the reason for the assessment? They they they're required by by law to do those. Well, it's an extremely

aggressive uh assessed increase more than has ever been. Right. Well, I can tell you exactly what the reason's for. It's the domestic migration that we've seen in Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, North Carolina, Texas. They've all seen uh a lot of people from California New York, Florida all migrate in and that's great. And why are they coming here? Well, they're coming here because we have less taxes. It's less crowded. Uh we have less crime, although that's not being helped out much by the casino and the things that uh brought was brought in with that. But uh if if any increase is warranted, uh it's not to the degree that they actually assessed. I spoke with the county u assessment board about this several weeks ago or about a week ago and they explained to me that they they asked me what the tax rate was and I said well I don't have an idea and they said 3% we've reduced it to 1.16 or whatever the number is. So, so I said if you assess to these rates, which is for some people double if not triple in some in some cases, it will be a zero sum gain uh gain for the city. Like you said, it's going to come out to be just about the same. Well, that's kind of a bait and switch type of mentality that's that that's happening. So what's going to happen is can you guarantee can you guarantee that that tax rate will not go up a year two years from now based upon the assessments? You can't. It's a rhetorical question. U and I know you I know you understand that. So what's going to happen is whatever people are paying today and we have to pay city and county taxes living in Tennessee, living in Bristol, Tennessee city. So, if you're paying $500 for county tax this year and 500 for city tax, that's $1,000. Well, this

assessment, your propertyy's just doubled and sometimes even tripled with some in some cases. Then, when that tax rate does go back up, that $1,000 you're paying this year, your three minutes are up. Okay. Well, all right. I'll be back. Thank you. Sure. Does anyone else want to speak to this matter? Please state your name and your address. Hi, my name is Sally Long. I live at 111 Richmond Heights Road in Bristol, Tennessee. Margaret, I know you. You're a ne you're a neighbor. I'm a walker. Vince, I know you. I vote it for both of you and I am against any tax rate increase. I'm on a fixed income. I know my fixed income based on the federal federal government formula is going up 2.5%. That's my race and that should be yours. I'm sorry. I'm not against the employees. I just feel like you have put us up against the employees saying we need to increase the taxes this much to give the employees raises. Service has gone down. Things are being built that we don't want to see. Like a visitor center, whether it comes from our taxes or not. We moved here because we like Bristol, Tennessee. We're not in Los Angeles. We don't want to be in Los Angeles. You all are taxing us to death. The county just taxed us to death. And I swear I vote. I saw your mother, Vince, um at at the election office. And I talked to her, a lovely woman. And um just, you know, she

was so nice. And I she said, "Vote for my son." And I said that New Yorker, but you're a great guy. But I swear if you all vote for this tax increase, I will vote against you. My husband will vote against you. My mother, who's not here, will vote against you. My daughter will vote against you because everything else is going up. We don't need the county taxes just went up and we do not need our city rate to go up. That's all I have to say. Thank you. [Applause] Please state your name uh and your address on uh the certified property tax rate. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Jesse Campbell. I reside at 226 Galway Road. My wife and I live in Bristol. We raise our children here. We pay taxes here just like everyone else in this room here tonight. And just like most of them, we've had enough. We've been told this proposed tax rate increase is just math. It's what's needed in order for the city to do business. But it's not just numbers. No. To me, that dog just won't hunt. It's a choice being made by each and every member of the city council here tonight. And once again, the choice is to squeeze the hardworking people of Bristol. the very same people who put their faith in each and every one of you on this council to represent their interests. This city and many others in our area, it's not a problem that's unique to Bristol, in my opinion, has gotten real comfortable with funding economic development and growth through projects like tiff deals, pilot programs, opportunity zones, things of that nature, that defer tax collections, often in the tens of millions of dollars every year. It's almost as if a new business rolls into town and re roll out

the red carpet and we open up the checkbook. Well, now the chickens have come home to roost and it's time to pay for our schools, pay for our roads, pay for our services that we all enjoy and rely on as residents. Only problem is there's a fox in the hen house. Suddenly the burden shifts to the little guy, the single parents, the homeowners, the family businesses, the widow on a fixed income. And to me, that just ain't right. You know, we've built an economy on handouts and hope nobody would notice. We've been chasing growth like it's a magic trick when what we really need is stewardship and leadership that knows how to build something that lasts, not just something that looks good on a press release. And you know, maybe that's the story of Bristol right now. I thought about it tonight as we drove in here and we drove underneath that sign on State Street that says Bristol, a good place to live. Have you ever really thought about that sign? What it says? A good place to live. Not great, not exceptional, just good. It's like the folks who built it knew we'd settle for good. Frankly, I'm tired of settling. I want this city to be great. I want us to expect more, demand better, and stop asking everyday people to carry the burden while developers and large corporations cash in and move out. That's why I'm here tonight, not to complain and moan, but to say plainly, enough is enough. It's time for bold. It's time for smart. Time for leadership and stewardship. Time for this council to show that they truly care about the people who actually live here, not just the ones who profit here. This proposed tax rate increase isn't good policy. It's passing the hat and putting a disproportionate burden on those who can least afford to shoulder it. So, I implore the council tonight,

stop settling, stop passing the buck, and start building a local economy in a city that we're all proud to call home. Thank you. [Applause] you state your name and your address. Uh Tim Marendino, 404 El Paso Drive. Thank you for the explanation earlier. Uh city attorney Smith for the changes in the assessments. Um I came here tonight because the tax rate at what it is already is an increase because the 2.25 25 that you all raised it to last year. With the new assessments, me personally, it's another increase. Regardless of how the new certified rate was preset by the state, it's still an increase for me by 38% in just two years. Uh with this new increase, uh 1.9892, um we're looking at again another increase for me by 78%. My taxes two years ago were around $1,300 for property tax. I have a small home family. I'm We have three kids, my wife. I'm in I'm in the reserves in order to help support our country. And with this new tax increase, I don't even think I can afford my new house payment because the escros if this new increase, it'll go from 1,300 to,900 almost $2,000. And that's not including the extra reserve that the escrow is required to save too. So my monthly housing payment is going to go up by almost $200 potentially just because of this increase. So I think you really need to ensure whenever you're making these increases, you're not just doing service by the city as a whole. You're doing service by every single citizen here to ensure everybody who lived here can stay here after these increases. Thank you. [Applause]

Denise McCall, 216 Bluff City Highway. First question is, is you guys published this on your website and in the Kingsport Times News? Was there a reason why it was not put in the Bristol Herald carrier? Yes. Yeah. I mean, because nobody in Kingsport lives in Bristol. Um, the state requires us to publish in the newspaper of general circulation in the county. The Bristol Herald Courier no longer publishes on a daily basis. The Kingsport Times News does. Um, it meets the statutory requirement and it's a lot cheaper. Okay. So, we saved a fair amount of money. Back back to my other thing about being out of touch. A lot of older people don't utilize the internet, you know, so they if they don't live in Kingsport and they don't get a newspaper and they don't utilize the internet, they don't see your website. So all of those people are uninformed. Next question is, thank you for answering about the newspaper. Um, we're we're in the same but we've lived here for 20 years. We raised our daughter here. We love it here. You know, we want to stay here. But our appraisal doubled. We're going to be looking at paying roughly 4,000 in taxes between county and city. That could very well be enough to push us out. And we don't want to do that. This is we've lived in this house the longest. This house is our home. This town is our home. We just want you guys to think about that because on your um organizational chart, um the first people listed on that chart are the citizens of Bristol.

And like everybody that's been up here before, you guys are pushing us out and for what, you know, and I I don't approve of my tax assessment on Bluff City Highway where I live. I don't know if you guys get out and drive around, but there's a trailer park that's in between McCrae Street and Cox Street that's full of dilapitated, unlivable mobile homes. And I'm not opposed to mobile homes. I grew up in a mobile home where we worked hard to live where we live now and we want to be able to stay there. But also, if my assessment is going to double, let's get out and clean some of these places up. Because if I put my house on the market tomorrow and people come to look at it and they find out that the trailer park on the next street over is full of fentinel, full of drug dealers. Who do you think is going to buy my house? And then when they see the tax the taxes on it, who's going to buy my house? So then I'm stuck. And I know my time is up. Thank you. And I really hope you guys make good decisions because your time could be up too, just like the other. [Applause] Mr. Spicer, Mr. Spicer, you've already spoken on this particular item on the agenda. Would you mind letting someone else do that? Thank you. Donna Traiani, 200 m at Bristol, Tennessee. Um, city forecasting is usually completed one year in advance. The city manager and council would have known that raises for service workers were needed a year ago. They would have known that more money was um needed for

chemicals to treat water and pay for increased salt as reported on yesterday's news release on WCYB. Where was this concern when you bidded on a luxury item the LLC King building for $2.75 million? If you are so concerned, you should resend your agreement to purchase the building so that we can increase service workers pay and pay for the salt and chemicals. Another suggestion is to sell the other luxury item, which is a $1.4 million Melrose property to satisfy concerns for increased wages and purchasing salt and chemicals. Our current property taxes are already higher um than every city from Nashville to here, including Nashville. Um for a $200,000 home in Bristol, Tennessee with your proposed um rate um along with the county tax, the um property taxes would be $2,160. for Nashville city in the city. Their tax rates are currently $1,627. We are a small city. We don't make large wages like Nashville does. Um you know, even Knoxville Knoxville um with their taxes are 1,85480 per year. This is an unreasonable burden on the people of Bristol, Tennessee that we do not have lower taxes like the other larger cities do. We are the smallest city of the Tri Cities and even Johnson City and Kingsport aren't paying as much as we are. Um, the Bristol's age distribution according to the 2018 to 2022

ACS 5-year estimates, um, almost 20% are 65 and over. And how are they supposed to pay for these kind of taxes? Almost 20 20% can't even um, satisfy their basic needs if they have to pay these property taxes. Um, Bristol, Tennessee is a low-income city and has higher taxes than everyone. It will be very difficult to save for retirement when much of everyone's income is going to pay property taxes so that you can raise incomes for the service workers buy salt and chemicals. This would be a Robin Hood type of scenario by robbing Peter to pay Paul. Thank you again. Let me let me remind you all that what we're asking for is if you have comments based on the certified property tax rate, there's a time in the in our uh agenda for people to make just uh the other comments. So, we're going to be here forever, which is fine. I'm just we're as we go through the agenda, if you've got comments based on this particular ordinance and resolutions dealing specifically with the certified property tax rate that this is the time to actually talk about that. Uh I hear you. Thank you. But it we'd like to we'd like to move forward in the agenda so that we can so if there you have comments about the certified property tax rate that would be great. Mayor Hutton, I'm Rick James. I live at 209 Apple Ridge Drive, Bluff City, Tennessee. Thank you. Um, and this directly does go to the certified tax rate. It was my understanding from the numbers that I was told tonight that if we have a tax rate of $154, that would equal the amount of tax that we had

revenue from last year. Is that correct? And we're talking about going up to $1.92. My math real quick says that's a 33% increase from last year to this year in the revenue that will be generated. Is that correct? It's not. Okay. Explain that to me. That's what I'm trying to figure out because I'm I know that my tax rate is about $1,300 a year. And I'm kind of worried with the fact I know the assessment goes in. I know that the tax rate went down. If the assessment is was a$150 or a dollar 54 and it would have been the same as last year and it goes up to $1.92, that's a 33% raise in that rate. Explain that to me. Go ahead. Yeah. The tax rate last year, sorry, the tax rate last year was $2.25. Correct. But you said that at 154 it will generate the same amount of revenue for the city that it was at 225 last year. Correct. Right. On a citywide basis. Correct. So what I'm saying is if you raise that tax rate from $154 to $1.92, that's 38 cents more than what it was on average for a typical Bristol tax payer. LA last year's certified tax rate was a $1.98, right? So if you if you leave the tax rate at a $1.98, it's a it's a net zero. like there's we don't we don't generate in income. I I understand that that's what it was last year and then we raised it to 225 because we we needed to generate and what was the revenue that was generated well from from last year $18.4 million. Okay. So

what is the projected revenue if we have the 1.92 cent tax? Miss Van can look that up for you. She spoke about that in the first public. Well, I understand that. But what she told us was what it would be if it was 1.34, which would or 1.54, I'm sorry, which would be the same, which would be 18 million. So, we're talking about a 33% change in revenue. I'm all for I'm a public servant, okay? Uh, I'm a educator and I think that teachers and I think the the law enforcement and the fire department and and all the people should get a pay raise. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that my math is different than what your guys' math is. And I'm going to defer to you guys because I'm sure you're a lot smarter than I am. But I did teach a little bit of economics and take some finance and stuff and I'd like that addressed before we decided to pass such a large increase. That's all I was asking. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] I mean that's I'm not sure what uh Good evening the council members. Uh, good evening, mayor. Um, my name is Nick Rutled. I live at 102 Galway Road. Um, I'm a relatively new uh, citizen of Bristol, but lived in Chattanooga, Knoxville previously, so I've been in East Tennessee my entire life. Um, I understand it's very hard to come up with a certified tax rate. I'll try my best to stay on the certified tax rate issue. Um, but my biggest issue is it seems like there were a lot of projects that or a lot of purchases that were previously made without a project clearly identified prior to purchasing

it. And the type of work I do, I cannot launch a project of any type without a clearly identified need prior to launching the project. And just doing some numbers here, Cleveland, Tennessee is at a buck 71. Johnson City's at a buck 41. I don't know if they're going to raise it or not. Kingsport's at a buck 67. and y'all are proposing, I believe, 192 or 198. I've seen both numbers. Um, so my basic call is to if there is an issue with the budget that is related to the tax rate, that is fine. But let's settle on the median in between those two numbers of around $1.73 to $1.76. And if there's still an issue in a year, let's come back in a year and talk about it. But as a compromise, my position is let's settle on the median in between those two numbers. Work with it for a year, do some more creative requests for proposals for like police and fire equipment. Let's partner with our neighbors like Kingsport and Johnson City and get higher purchasing power for this police and fire equipment. Give the folks that work for the city their raises. I'm not disputing that. And then settle on this median of about $1.73 to $1.76 and come back in a year. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] My name is Brian Suzak. I live at 114 Monroe Drive, Bristol, Tennessee, 37620. My wife said, "Don't ramble." And I was going to do the uh song about rambling, but I won't do that. Um, I appreciate everything you guys do. I know it's a tough job. My question really has to do with my personal taxes on my property, and it's a question for you. Does the city of Bristol use the

data from the county to determine how much they're going to tax my property, not including the tax rate, the 1.92 that you're going to use, but the square footage, the acreage, does that all come from the county? It does. So, my property that I bought when I bought it, I use count, they use county data. All the real estate agents and all the the places that list what my square footage of my property and what my acreage is, they use county data. County data turns out to be an error, significant error. Month and a half ago, I met with them, pointed this out to them, and they came back, and they're ste still using the same data. So, I almost would say that some people in here may say that's fraud. I don't, but there's significant errors. So, my question is, can I submit to the city a detailed summary of my property and why there's errors from the county that I could show county data, the data that actually exist, uh, registered surveys of my property, easements on my property that reduce the square usable square footage. Can I do that? Can I submit it to anywhere in the county in the city? Because the county is is ignored. But yet they said they would not ignore it. So it's fraudulent if if you tax me on that. And I would recommend that everyone here look at that in your own house. Check out your square footage and your actual acreage. There there is an appeal process, but the the assessments come from the county. From the county. And so I mean we don't we don't set those that that assessment. That's Okay. So, is there a place in the city where I can send a letter that I'm going to send to the county where I could copy you guys so that you understand what my problem is? Absolutely. Yeah, you can send it to the city manager's office. Absolutely. City manager's office. Yeah. Okay. But I

mean, I going through the county on that regard is it's very important. Well, so far I'm going to have to go again. They told me I couldn't, but Mayor, I'm going to. Yes, absolutely. The appeals process is closed now, but they'll be reopening it May 1st. If you want to make a note to recon recont them then May May May first a year from now, but but wait, I went and visited with them before the appeal process was done and they're ignoring all my data. Not all of it. They reduced it a little bit, but I am paying probably more per square footage than anyone in this here in this place for what they value my property at because it's 1,248 square feet less than what they say it is. And that's significant. I bought the house assuming all the data was right. Try again. All right. So, I just wanted to mention that. Try again. Yeah. Try again. Try again. or okay? Well, I am through a letter and you guys will get a copy. Great. The last thing is I guess you're increas um at a $154 because the evaluation of properties have gone up from last year and so you're able to do it at a $154 but you're still raising it to a$1.92. Is that a true statement? No. No. No. So, property values in Bristol, city of Bristol have not gone up from last year to now. Yeah, I'm have they I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question. The valuation, the assessed value of properties for tax purposes. I think I think from the assessment across the board, I think everybody in Sullivan County is dealing with that. That came through the county. That's why uh I mean and it has sent ripples actually all across the county. No, but my question really has to do with your budget. I It sounded like last year you had a $1.98. This year you

could lower it to a dollar $154 and survive. That's the That's the certified tax rate. That's the rate that is set by by the by the state based on based on property values and the assessment and all of that. That's where that number that's where that number is coming from. So Okay. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Well, thank you. Right. Okay. All right. Is there somebody else? She's coming. My name is Jeff Purcell. I live at 300 Spruce Street, Bristol, Tennessee. About 5 years ago, I moved here from Southeast Texas to get away from hurricanes and high taxes and high insurance rates. And so far up to now I've been pretty successful at that and I love Bristol. When I got my appraisal notice from the county uh my property went up 102% the valuation 102%. So, when I started doing the numbers, this the 154, uh, I'm still paying that's an increase in my taxes of 31%. If you went with the 154, so I'm still And if you go with the 192, it's a tax increase of 64%. Now, one of the the speakers before was talking about the 2.7% increase uh that something most a lot of us in here got in social security benefits this year. Once they raised health insurance costs, that was gone.

So now people that are on a fixed income are faced with a percentage- wise a gigantic increase. So hopefully you all can sharpen your pencils and come up with something that's a little bit less painful. Thank you. Thanks, sir. [Applause] I'm Tina Cook. I came to United States in 1961. I'm an American citizen. My son is a defense in ser force. So therefore I'm a citizen. Sometimes I believe I'm not. Anyway, today I'm speaking for seniors. You recent seniors that's equity. That house is for us to retire to pay for a nursing home to pay for medical bills. If you raise the taxes in seniors, you got us in trouble. So I hope you think about it. Another When you get my age 85 and you go from office to office, you get a run around. Make it clear. Put it wherever it is in your taxes, the services that you have. Where are the locations of the offices you have to go? Because when you become 85, you don't have the carnity that all of you young people have. I struggle. I pay $9,000 for a unit. Hidden air, no heat, no air. And it's been November and I cannot resolve anything with the city with anybody. Be careful who you give the permits. Be careful who you give the license because the pritors there. They come and especially women and other women. Okay? So you to serve us and look after us. Please do that and please help me. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Right.

All right. We are ready to move on now to uh this next one. This public hearing is now closed. Now moving on to ordinance 25-14. It's an ordinance to amend the appropriation of funds and budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2024 through June 30th, 2025. The public hearing is hereby open for ordinance 25-14. Holly Baron will present this item. So this is the public hearing for ordinance 2514 to amend the appropriation of funds for the budget for fiscal year 2025. The drug fund is being proposed to amend $130,000. Debt service fund 3,529,7 storm water fund $856,87 general purpose school fund $49,671,425 school capital projects fund $8,177,459. Transfers are being proposed to amend to general fund from storm water at $49,485 to capital facilities fund from general fund 2,224,982 capital projects fund two school capital projects fund from the general purpose school fund at 8 million8,66,359. Thank you. Would anyone in the audience like to address council on uh ordinance 25-14 is to appropriation of fund to amend the funds and budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2024 through June 30th, 2025.

Good afternoon to Marendino again, 404 El Paso Drive. I just had a question about one line item that I saw interesting in from the budget and I'm glad it came up here. Why do we keep moving money from the general fund to the storm water fund and then back from the storm water fund to the general fund? That's my only question. Holly answer that better. Um there was a a transfer from the general fund to stormwater fund just to help it out because the rates were not as as high as they should have been. And then the stormwater fund is a proprietary top fund and it can pay a pump payment in lie of tax back to the general fund for the um asset values that it holds in that spun. Thank you for clarifying. But my question is why why not just keep the money in the same fund and use that money from the same fund. I don't see why we have to do the back and forth unless there's some sort of issue with there being a deficit at one point during the year. That would make sense. But I see $50,000 line item move from the general fund to the storm water fund and now we're asking to move $49,000 nearly $50,000 back from the stormwater fund to the general fund. So that was it confuses me why there's money moving around like that when it's the same fund going back and forth. The general answer is it's it's an auditing a tracking mechanism to track transfer or to to track all of the transactions and ensure that they're all accounted for when we get our books audited every year. So that's the general answer and again Holly has the the specifics as to what was transferred exactly and why but this particular transaction is chewing up the payment in le of amount which is

based on the assets in that fund in the prior fiscal year. So that's what if that fund did pay taxes, it would pay that much in taxes back to the general fund. And so that that amount doesn't go over what we anticipated in the budget. That's why we're bumping this up a little bit to true it up. Basically a cleanup for the 25 budget. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no more comments, this public hearing is now closed. All right, we'll move now to the appearance of citizens. U many of you uh filled out the sign-in sheet on your way in. This section provides an opportunity for the public to address city council on any item that is not on the agenda for formal consideration. A response will not likely be made at this time since in most cases neither the council nor city manager will be prepared to effectively respond to the concerns. The city manager will look into the matter, report back to city council, or as appropriate have staff meet with you in an effort to satisfy your concern. Again, comments are limited to three minutes and are not transferable to other individuals. Groups are encouraged to select a spokesperson to represent. Uh there's a list here and remember that you have a threeminut time limit on this. So, uh the first person on this list is Barbara Fer. All right. Thank you. All right. Uh next is uh Carol D. McCall. Miss McCall. after Carol comes. It is uh Regina Odum. So you might want to be

just around. Oh, Denise McCall, 216 Bluff City Highway. Uh, I just wanted to read you guys something that I seen on Facebook today. It says, "When a single mom in Bristol incurs more expenses, she has to cut back on something in her budget." When a retired couple in Bristol incurs more expenses, they have to cut back on something in their budget. When a small business owner in Bristol incurs more expenses, they have to cut back on something in their budget. When the city incurs more expenses, they spend more money and raise our taxes to get it. There's a difference. [Applause] Regina Odum, Mr. Spicer. This uh what I'm about to say here is mainly for the audience as as well as the city council. I may be speaking my words here, but I'm actually speaking for my family, my friends, my neighbors, fellow citizens of Fris, Tennessee, which we are all a part of. Sadly, what I think is going on here is a French term, 19th century French term called fate of complete, which is an accomplished fate. Meaning, it doesn't matter what we say or do. They have the responsibility of voting the way the state tells them to vote through the the facility county. They do have the opportunity of being able to adjust that tax rate based upon what we're going to be assessed. They made it a zero sum game for one reason. So when they double all your properties,

you're not going to pay hardly any more taxes than what you're paying right now. But Bristol, Tennessee can adjust that level up or down, but they still have to go what the county says. So, with that being the fact, I've been blessed in my career the last few years to be able to support and save enough money. I had enough focus to do that to be able to weather times like this. My sister, my brother, some friends that I help along the way cannot. And I cover their expenses and that's because I want to do. I'm not bragging on doing that sort of thing. But if they were not if they were in the position of have having to support themselves, they could not afford this. The uh population in Bristol is two or not Bristol, Sel County is 200,000. Does anyone on the board know what the delinquency rate is for not paying their taxes? Bristol. I'm sorry. We do know for Bristol. What is Bristol? Bristol's collection rate in the year is 97.4%. All right. Well, it wasn't that several years ago, I believe, but the county rate has actually doubled. Not because of this assessment, but two years ago, it actually is up about 30 to 40% from last year. This is before the assessment came out. By doubling our properties, the house that I grew up in, where my sister is, is now valued less than what sold behind the behind the the street behind where we where we where she lives now. That house that sold behind hers was $240,000. It's 800 square feet. Do I think my house is valued at that? Well, yeah, I've got that much in it restoring it. Yes. But when I purchased the house, as you all did, your first

homes, the rule was do not purchase a home more than three times your annual salary. So what would it take to afford an 800 square foot house for $240,000? It would take an income of about $80,000. Mr. Spicer, you're you're up against your time. I understand, but no one else is here. If you just give me just few minutes, we have we have a whole list right here. Oh, I know that there's a place to fight this. July 17th at the county board, there's going to be another assessment. I'm going to try to speak to them as well. They may be able to make that adjustment. Otherwise, we need to have a sit down with Governor Bill Lee and have him see what we do here. We do not have the industry to support $80,000. Thank you, Mr. Spicer. Thank you. Right. Thank you. Time is up. Thank you. Um, is it Henry Talbett? Okay. Yeah. Thank you, sir. Thank you, city council. Yes, sir. I was a business owner for 40 years. Would you mind stating your name and your address? Henry Junior Tolbert, 56 Tulip Grove. Thank you. Bristol, Tennessee. I'm a property owner of probably 14 properties in Bristol, Tennessee area. I purchased these properties years ago to retire on. Okay. I've owned these properties for 30 some years as most of you people in here that I'm sure that's being represented that's come in here tonight. Most of these people in here probably have owned these properties for these many years too. We paid our taxes for these years at a reasonable amount of increase each time. Now, like I say, this thing looks like it's going to go probably the 30% even could be up to 52, whatever the percentage is. You know,

I've worked hard all my life and made uh money in the business for 40 years. But if the increase that I did of my business that I increased it of the increase of what it's going to be on these taxes say an oil change that I went from 39.95 if I increase that oil change for the for the thing over the you know the period if it did if I if I increase that oil change say 40% do you think I'd have any customers the same the same project is as what's going on here if we increase this do you think a lot of these people in here can afford this. There's no way. So I think over, you know, we need to back up and look at other things that needs to be done and not pile it all in one time on the tax increase. You know, I purchased these properties 30 some years ago and yeah, I've increased it over what you guys done over the years, but this year has just been astronomically way too much. And I don't think it's right that, you know, all the citizens of of Bristol, Tennessee have to pay these taxes or what is you guys want to increase. It's not right. And I think, you know, everybody in this audience applaud to that. But, uh, you know, I think we need to step back and look and see if there's not something else that we can do besides piling all the taxes on all at one time. Yeah. Like the fellow said earlier, let's back up and, you know, do a little this year and then next year hopefully that everything will assess itself out, but I don't know. It's probably another 50% increase next year. So, where do we go? Thank you. Thank you, sir. [Applause] Mr. Marendino Timothy. All right. Thank you, sir. Kim Kirk.

Hey, Kim Kirk. Resside at 208 Creekide Court. As principal, a proud Tennessee High graduate, and a Bristol native born and raised with roots deep in in this city my entire life. I stand before you with fire in my heart to address a personal attack on my reputation and to proclaim my unyielding passion for Tennessee High, vowing to fight for its legacy as Bristol's heart. Lee Powers claimed I attacked her after the last city council meeting. I did not. I know what being attacked feels like. I approached her calmly to discuss her quoting my social media post in two public meetings. These accusations damage my reputation. It's this this is not the place for that sort of dialogue. We can set up another way for you to do that, but we're not going to we're not going to do I didn't realize I had rules with what I could say, but I I'll skip to my next part. Tennessee High, Bristol's only high school, is the forge where young Vikings are shaped. My love for this institution runs deep, and I will fight to preserve its legacy for past, present, and future Vikings. Each year I deliver our we are Tennessee high graduation speech igniting pride in our traditions. Friday nights come alive with alive with Viking pride. Families and alumni alumni pack the stone castle. Cheerleaders and dancers rally. JOTC presents colors. Magical sing and the band's drums and fans roars light up the night. Our coaches, teachers, and staff as surrogate parents raise Vikings, fierce Vikings, with knowledge and grit. Our shield stands for honor, our axes for strength. Class night, spirit weeks, homecoming parades, and our alma mater bind us with loyalty, fueling our unrivaled pride. from the Stone Castle historic fortress since 1936 to Viking Hall and Todd Houston film field named for a legend instrumental in baseball

who also served as mayor. Our venues are icons. The Stone Castle's architecture and our school's colonial revival columns scream permanence, yet their age demands protection. The city met and removed us from discussion with Boyd Sports to redevelop Todd Houston Field. Unacceptable. I'm excited the city has pledged to work with Tennessee High and prior prioritize our students. Even as Mark stated, we'd need to ask to use our own field. Without school input, city construction plans could disrupt our baseball season, denying our seniors their home field. This deal leaves wrestling without a permanent home for now, unless we choose to purchase your Melrose building with an asking price that exceeds a million over what it was sold for 5 years ago. These spa spaces are our biking identity where students shine. Changes must honor our legacy and prioritize our kids. Your 2024 strategic plan omit students. Why raise property taxes if not for our children, our greatest resource. Our alumni, many in this room, carry our legacy. Tennessee High is a nucleus of Bristol, and my passion drives me to fight for its traditions, students, and place in this community. I've had your children, walked the Tennessee highs with Mark and Vince, and stand as a Viking pleading to protect our properties and heritage. I will fight for Tennessee High with every breath, and I ask you to join me in raising the Marina White high to show what Bristol truly stands for. Thank you, Greg. Greg Cochran.

Yes, my name is Greg Cochran. I live at 237 Charlie Drive and I've lived there for 50 years. And we have been told by the council and by the city manager that Todd Houston field needs to be enlarged to accommodate a professional baseball team. Well, the problem with that is after looking at the architect's drawing, that field is not going to be big enough. A minimum professional baseball field is a 400 ft dead center field. sidelines 320 feet. You can't do that with that field unless you move the school. You're talking about5 to7 million minimum. There's there's money you can save. Um all the other fields in the Appalachin League, if that's what it's still called, have fields exceeding 400 feet center field and 320 ft down each sideline. What happens if we do this and they say you've got to increase the field to make it a professional team. What are we going to do then? Are we going to go back and punt and make another field? We had fields down on 394. That didn't happen. Uh we need to rethink that. It's not going to work. You're going to spend five to seven million dollars minimum from I think five million from the city and two million from the school plus whatever else money that you've got there. Uh that's a savings that we could do with this tax uh incentive for the uh pay for the uh property taxes. You can't

do it. I mean you've got Edgemont Avenue. You've got Shirley Drive there. There's Turtle lives on on Edgemont Avenue. I live on Shirley Drive. You've got two small streets. You've got parking there. Now that when it comes to a schoolboard meeting or not schoolboard, but a uh uh PTA meeting at Hannesfield, you've got people parked on Edgemont going down back behind the baseball field. You got them going down Shirley Drive, parking there. You can't get around. You've got the fire department within 100 feet of where the baseball field is with this new enlarged facility. What are they going to do when it comes to a fire? What are they going to do with it with the traffic? It's going to be a disaster. And how long is it going to take the city to recoup the money that they spend on this baseball team that's going to play 24 games in Bristol? They're going to play Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday nights. five o'clock on Sunday nights, 7:30 on Friday nights, you've got all the noise there. It's going to be a damn disaster. And I'm sorry to say that, but that's that's that's just the way it is, folks. [Applause] Andrew Taylor, I do have a quick question while Andrew is coming to the podium. Have we received the drawings, the official architectural drawings yet? We have not. So, um I guess my $64,000 question has been or my my concern has been the baseball field as it is right now is not regulation uh regulation size at all. And we know that and as far as it being a high school facility, we know that uh the other fields are a more regul a more regulated size. And I I don't know why

everyone thinks that it's just about the Stateliners because we have said repeatedly that the main reason that we have even entertained this whole venture is to give our students, our youth an opportunity to play on a much better field. Right now it has sharpedged brick blocks for seats. It's um it's antiquated. It's run down. You go into the dressing rooms there at some point and I understand we're having the discussion about the tax rate, but at some point are we not ever going to improve our facilities? We we have waited and waited and waited. This has been a 4-year opportunity in the making where there's $2 million being invested uh in this as a private public partnership and $25,000 a month for the use two months out of the year as well as other amenities that will be brought into it. So, while I understand what Mr. Cochran is saying, I also have been privy and I know Kurt you have and Mike Mains has too as to how uh an exceptional field could in fact be put on that site with uh an abundance of parking. So I just you know I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves in that uh unless did the school system have y'all received the architectural renderings? Have you already received those, Kurt? Okay, please. All right. All right. I just wanted to share those comments. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Sorry about the Thank you. That's fine. Uh, I'm going kind of they kind of led me into what I was going to talk about facilities. So, they worked out well. Uh, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I need to be direct. What's happening between the city and the school system is unacceptable. We're watching opportunities for students get stalled, redirected, or outright dismissed

because adults in charge can't or won't work together. This isn't communication issue anymore. It's a leadership failure and our students, families, and taxpayers are all the ones paying the price. That should concern everyone in here. Let's talk about the wrestling facility. For years, our wrestlers have trained in subpar conditions. Finally, the school system secured funding to give those athletes facility they deserve. Now, instead of standing beside the school and helped that vision become a reality, city is pushing to sink those funds into a building that was purchased for 1.4 million despite being appraised for only 325,000. It's not responsible and is certainly not collaboration. And then there's the baseball facility, another opportunity for partnership that instead has turned into confusion and exclusion. The school system, which represents the very students that will use that field, have been cut out of the process. Again, is not how a healthy relationship works. These decisions might seem like isolated issues, but they're not. together send a loud and clear message to families and that the city and the school system are not aligned that the students are not the priority and that if you want better opportunities for your child, you may have to go elsewhere. And guess what? Families are doing that. I've been approached more than once about pulling my student athlete from this district and I do not want to do that. I believe in this community and but I will do what's best for my child. When my f when families walk away, they don't just take students. They take the energy and the momentum and tax dollars. They take their support and investment to communities that do work together and do prioritize their youth and that do

build long-term solutions through real collaboration. That's money leaving our city. That's revenue walking out the door. And that's lost, a future lost, not just for our school system, but for the city itself. This shouldn't be a battle between two sides. The city and school system are not competitors. They are partners. Or at least they should be. Because at the end of the day, we share the same taxpayers. We serve the same families and represent or are responsible for building the same future. It's time to sit down at the same table, not with agendas, but with shared goals. It's time to stop asking schools to pay for city's missteps and start investing together in solutions that benefit everyone. If we don't, we'll keep losing students, we'll keep losing families, and we'll keep losing the very heart of this community. Thank you. [Applause] Donna Tri Trigian. I touched a little bit on the um Do I say my name and address again? Yes, please. Donna Trojani, tenant Maple Ter, Bristol, Tennessee. I touched a little bit on what um the other communities are paying. Um I would like to go in a little bit deeper on this. Um with the uh combined Sullivan County tax rate and the Bristol proposed tax rate, um correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm uh deriving 4.32

as the total tax rate. Um, the total tax rate for Nashville City is 3.25. The total tax rate for Knoxville is 4.0096. Johnson City is 2.75 or six, sorry. Kingsport is 4.07. We are the lowest um paid community in um you know any jobs we have. They're much lower than Johnson City, much lower than Kingsport, Nashville, Knoxville. Yet we are going to have the highest property tax rates. Um this is going to ruin family dynamics. Um our children are going to leave for lower lower property. um rate communities. It's going to break up our families. We can no longer um depend on each other for um you know any type of elderly care, child care. Um it's definitely going to ruin the families. Um I used to think that this was a good place to live. I'm not so sure anymore. If you vote these rates in, then I will myself think that whoever voted are the ones who ruined the good place to live. This was our community, but I don't want it to be my community if this is going to be what's happening in the future. Um, that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you, [Applause] Jesse Campbell. Sally long Diane height

uh Diane height 516 Carolina Avenue. I've lived in Bristol long enough to remember when this city used to work for its people, not against them. Let's talk facts. Last year, our tax rate went up 13%. This year, property values were reassessed, up an average 46%. Now, you're proposing another 25%. And for what? Did we really need a brand new visitor center? I understand now tonight that our tax dollars don't go to that, but isn't that what our chamber of commerce is for? That building. Did we need to relocate the Bristol state liners from Virginia to Tennessee? Because our old mayor owned it. You know what happened to the white top fields? Why are we buying up old downtown buildings for the city? We're going to have to spend more money to renovate them. Unfortunately, it feels like we're being asked to contribute more without receiving anything in return. No better schools, no improved roads, no enhanced public services, no tangible benefits that justify the added financial strain. But let me ask you this. What are we not spending the money on? A city pool, a place where our kids and family can gather. Because let's be honest, adults don't sit around the splash pad out at Steels Creek. Meanwhile, the basic services, things that we used to work that used to work are falling apart. Our trash service is sporadic at best. I drive our streets every day. I see toilets, yard waste, old appliances, and they sit there for weeks. I've called on myself for

Anderson, Broad, Carolina, Taylor, because the claw doesn't come down these roads anymore for some reason. And if they do, they don't pick up the trash. And while I'm at it, on Carolina, I don't know who approved the curb changes, but they took two feet of road off of Carolina Avenue. You might as well make it a one-way street. I don't know if you've driven it, but when you leave tonight, go down that road. Feels like the city is being run like a business that forgot who its customers are. We're not just a tax base where your neighbors, your voters, your community. And right now, many of us feel ignored, overcharged, and fed up. If you're going to raise taxes this aggressively, then we deserve to see aggressive improvements in services, infrastructure, and quality of life. Right now, all we see is vanity projects and neglected essentials. It's not just disappointing, it's disgraceful. I urge you, re-evaluate this increase. Show us leadership. Fix what's broken before adding anything new. listen to the people that live here because we remember what Bristol used to be and it isn't that anymore. Thank you, Nick Rutled. Uh, thank you all again. Nick Rage, 102 Galway Road. Um, I addressed some of this earlier, but one of the points that got brought up tonight um is the issue of the baseball stadium. Um, it's my

understanding that 5 million of that would come from the city and then 2 million would come from uh partnership, private partnership. Um, it's obvious that, at least obvious to me, that the economics of that agreement are not working right now based on the financial situation. So, what I'm asking on that is to renegotiate. I'm not necessarily saying cancel the project outright, but possibly change scope. If there's aspects of it that improve accessibility for like ADA accommodations or improving facilities for locker rooms or bleachers, whatever the case may be, or lighting or safety improvements, that's fine. But if it's to serve an Appalachin League team and they want Cadillac grade nicities that might be featured at a minor league team, that's not necessary. Um, I know for Chattanooga and Knoxville in particular, they were basically forced to build new baseball stadiums for their minor league affiliate teams because Major League Baseball told them, "You will build us a stadium or we're leaving." Bristol is not in that situation. We're not ch we're not Chattanooga. We're not in Oxville. We're Bristol. So, and the other properties in question, the LC King building purchased recently for the sum of 2.75 million. Um, it's there's no clear project identified um with that building, but prior to purchase um there's hopes and aspirations for that building. Um but hope is not a plan. Um my line of work, you have to have a clearly identified project before you launch something. So, it looks like the cart got put before the horse to me on that one. uh the Shelby Street lot. Um unknown dollar amount value for that one, but again, no immediate project identified. So for some of these pro properties that were maybe preemptively purchased, um asking to re-evaluate those purchases, perhaps sell them if there's not a clearly identified project. Again, I want the police officers to get their raise. I want the fire department to get their raise. I want them to have the best possible equipment. Partner with our

neighbors in Johnson City and Kingsport. do a big request for proposal and take advantage of economy of scale. Um, if we need more police cars, you know, we I understand that each department outfits their cars differently, but it's still a Ford police interceptor. It's still a Dodge Durango pursuit. Take advantage of those economies of scales. And again, just I'm not saying anything for against the increase, but perhaps settle on the median of about that $1.76 and let's come back in 12 months and renegotiate. That's all. Um because I understand revenue needs need to go up and I don't agree with the proposed $1.92 or $1.98 and maybe $154 won't cover everything. So let's settle in the middle and settle for a median as a compromise. Thank you. [Applause] Bill Fletcher. Bill Fletcher. Okay. All right. The next name I um is Karen. Is it Bontra? I have that right. I have trouble reading the name. Is there Karen that wanted to speak tonight? Okay. Rebecca Adams. Good evening. Rebecca Adams, 105 Eaton Lane. First, um, thank you for the

opportunity to speak and also thank you for your service because I know it is a super hard job. Um, and I appreciate the people who have talked to me and provided me information. Um, as I stated to several of you, and first and foremost, I know that some of us will have to agree to disagree on certain things, but as we've talked, our taxes increase 13%. With the reassessment and this increase that we proposed, we're now looking for many of us over another 55 to 57%. So over this past year then we've got almost 70% increase in our taxes for property taxes. And that doesn't even include the increases that we're going to have for water and sewer. And then the concern that with those we're going to have increased taxes and charges for those as we go forward because there's been discussion that those funds aren't covering their expenses as they are right now. So, I'm concerned that we're trying to be everything to everybody and as a city of our size, we simply can't do that. I'm concerned that we've purchased property that has sat there for three years and we haven't done anything with it. That we might not have had a true plan for everything that we want to do. In addition, we've apparently purchased another property with the King Building. and having been in some discussions previously at work sessions when you had your bond person here and we talked about the debt you had and the debt you were going to incur what was going to happen to our tax rate which incur in concerns me because even though my husband and I can afford that there were many years ago when I returned to school with two children that this would have devastated our financial position and I know many single parents parents and I know lots of seniors are concerned about

this and simply can't afford it. Again, I think we need to come back and really focus and get an understanding of what our citizens are willing to pay for because we've got things now and we've got an increase with our community engagement and events. And I know lots of people who go downtown and who love going downtown, but we've got an increase of almost $476,000 for community events. We simply can't do all those things along with support our police and fire and have those increases. We also have an I've been on the library foundation um board and support the library, but we've got an AOKA library that's 3.9 miles from the other library and about 11 minutes from there. We have to go back and look at all the things that we have and determine truly what we value. It's concerning that when we talk about that then there may have even been comments that we do not have to have a city school system. So please in the past you had people and you went through to the schools and you talked about your budgets and you got input. I think we need communication between our community and our city council. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Uh, the next person I I'm having a little trouble reading their name. Uh, is it Ganerys? Um, is that right? Okay. Hi, I'm Leila Ganerys, 109 Britney Circle, Love City. So, correct me if I'm wrong. The the budget for next year is a 267% increase over this year. Is that right?

That's okay. Correct me, please. What is it? What What's the What is the increase in budget for next year? It's 4.7. Okay. 4 point something. I don't know where I got a 267% increase. That's good. Um, so just to put in perspective, u my ne my next door neighbor bought the house next to me uh about 15 months ago. They moved here from California. Um, their appraisal that they got this a few couple months ago is actually $200,000 more than what they paid about 15 months ago. Does that make sense to anybody? I mean, that's they're they're looking at moving back to California because it's going to it's cheaper. That's pretty bad. Um, so is there a plan in place for people that won't be able to afford the tax increase on on their property? I mean, you have like the electric company that has a type of indigent fund available for for seniors and whatnot that can't afford their electric bills. Um, what plan do you have for seniors on fixed incomes that just don't have a way to produce the extra money that is going to be required to pay these these um increased property taxes? You want to answer that? We have a a tax relief program for seniors and veterans. You do have a tax relief program relief for seniors and veterans. for seniors.

Excellent. Okay, that probably should be publicized so that they know that. So that seniors and veterans do know that. Um I I'm I'm sure you know that um I if if you follow through with increased taxes, I don't feel like any of you have worked to get yourself in your your positions to ruin the lives of the citizens of Bristol, Tennessee. I I I feel like you actually came into these positions to make our our city a better place. Um, but politics can get messy and just know, I know you're counting on people to have short memories, but I feel like in this case, when you're going to hurt people really, really where it hurts badly, I don't think that they will have short memories when it comes to reelection time. Thank you. I'm not going to open it up anymore. I'm not going to ask for anymore. All right. Now, the parents of citizens is now closed. We have two ordinances for second reading tonight. We have ordinance 25-13. It's an ordinance to adopt the annual budget and tax rate for fiscal year uh beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026. This item was presented by Holly Von during the public hearing earlier this evening and the public had an opportunity to comment during that public hearing. Uh are there any questions for Miss Baron on this matter from council? I have a few questions.

Holly in this uh budget for this year. Are there any additional um is there any additional expense for um pay increases in this budget that were not in in uh FY 25's budget? FY26 in FY26. Do we have any new um payroll items amounts that were not in FY25? our fire and police uh based on the study and all the other departments are they new to FY26 budget this budget that we're talking about are you talking dollars or people number of people I'm talking about dollars dollars okay so the fiscical year 26 budget includes a 4.7% pay increase for all city departments it also includes includes what happened with fire and police in fiscal year 25. That carries forward into 26. And how much is that? I'm not sure. I can tell you the approximate the overall department analyses for police and fire combined was approximately 1.5 million. The 1.5 million of new uh payroll. And then what about public works and the other departments? How much is that projected new uh expense? We don't know. Um so we are almost complete with public works and then we will move on to the other departments. We're hoping to do truncated analyses with those smaller departments. We included a 4.7% market adjustment for all of the departments that did not go through the department analysis yet. And then in the

city manager budget, there's an additional 700,000 to incorporate for those implementation of the other department analyses. So we're looking at an increase of is it about uh 2.2 overall with that 70,000 and the 1.5 for fire and police. It will be more than that when you factor in the market adjustments. Um because you have to factor the market adjustments with the new department analysis. Those will get factored in with our compensation consultant. And so in our previous budget discussions, we had 1.5 for fire and police and I believe it was projected all total for all other departments would be about 1.5. Yes. Yes. Yes. So, a total of 1 point a total of about uh 3 million for the uh payroll increases. Correct. And and um we did the analysis because how long had it been since we had uh appropriately with the cost of living made uh payroll adjustments to the degree that we will now. To my I don't know when the last period was. Do you have any recollection of when we made the appropriate uh salary adjustments. I believe it was in fiscal year 23, possibly 24 when they were they were doing a compensation study. We tried to increase a certain percentage each year, certain group, and I thought it was 23 or 24. I have to go back to certain before then. It was earlier than that. It started before then. I mean, it started before that, but it went so five year plan and we dropped a year or two where we didn't. So there was a compensation study done and Mary Lee can correct me because she was here when when it was done. It was prior to my coming on. There was a compensation

study done that was never it was not fully implemented. So we never caught our our employees up to where the compensation study said that they should be. That's correct. We did a compensation study in around 2016 or 2017 and tried to implement it and was not able to implement it fully and it took us five years to implement that program. And the reason that I bring that up is because um we we have found that we have lost a lot of employees that we have trained and they have gone to work in Sullivan County. They've gone to Bristol, Virginia. They some have gone to the casino. They've gone to other areas because um our pay scale was not comparable. And this had gone on for several years. And so, not only were we losing employees and having to try to recruit and retain employees, but we were uh also having to train the employees. And some of that reason it was because we uh and Tara, you remember this because that's back in your day. uh we insisted on staying or we had three votes that insisted on staying at the state certified tax rate and now just and and Holly you or Terry one can correct me or Miss BJ when you're at the state certified tax rate it t it doesn't take into account any pay increases it doesn't take into account any inflation it doesn't take into account any antiquated capital equipment it uh it it takes a snapshot of where you have been at that particular point and that's where you are. And so over the years when we stayed at the state certified tax rate year after year after year,

we had to push out and because we had meetings just like this where the public came and and I hear you. I mean, I hear you. But we had meetings just like this and uh we stayed at the certified tax rate for years until the year before last. And we had gotten to such a point that we could not continue on at the state certified tax rate, which was why we went from the 198 to the 225. we we were really at that point left with no choice. And so in real dollars to go from the state certified tax rate of about 154 153 something 154 and that has not been totally affirmed yet because we still have uh uh reappraisals that are being appealed. So, we're still waiting for that to be absolute. Correct. We've been at we've had confirmation from the state that they don't believe the rate will change significantly. So, they are competent with the current rate. So, so at at the 154 or 153 almost 154. So, this year Holly and if and and if y'all just indulge me a minute. This year, Holly, uh we're talking about in real dollars At 192, what is the amount in real dollars that we would benefit above the state certified tax rate? It's about four and a half million. 4 and a.5 million. So, you've already heard and that's at 192 192 above the 154. And so we've already

explained that of that 4.5 million about three million is a minimum of about three million million is going to go to payroll and we have uh some capital needs. We have tried to any other of the projects that have been talked about um are where we are reallocating monies not using new monies. Is that a fair statement? That's correct. And a lot of their development is based on uh the acquisition of grants that we have uh applied for and feel very good about. I'm looking back at Tom Anderson to So where do we go? Where do we go? What what other than the capital improvements and um the payroll and I'll tell you this we've had opportunity in the past for public private partnerships that have been thwarted. We had one opportunity of 25 million to build a TCAT facility in partnership part two. That would have gone to the training of not only our uh school system students, but it was uh also to train our workforce development adults and um it was thwarted and the 25 million was was it walked away. We had another opportunity of 22 million to improve facilities. Everyone couldn't get on the same page with that. It walked away. We have others in the community, outside of the community that are looking to make substantial investments and they're watching what we're doing

with the baseball. And if if we don't if we don't follow through with the baseball and Miss Powers, let me just finish. I just I I'll wind it up right here to follow through with the baseball. I know Andrew, a former student of mine, great presentation, but it is first and foremost for the students. You've heard that over and over again and and it's just it has it has been not well represented uh by some in the community, but it is for the students first and foremost. Thank you. Thank you, mayor, for indulging. Are there any other questions for Miss Baron from council? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We we had opportunity earlier for for for community to speak. So, is there a motion to approve ordinance 25-13? I would like mayor. No, you may not. Is there a motion to approve ordinance 25-13? I would make a motion uh for ordinance uh 2513. It's based on a tax rate of 192. I need a second before we can move to discussion. Oh, I'm sorry. I'll second that. Okay. Now, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Okay. Only by the city. So only by the city council. Right. So I know we have worked really really hard on this and we started at a much higher rate trying to fit everything in. Um and then we have gone through several different rates. Also it is very interesting when we

model things out because that is what we want to do is look at what the rate does further out. We also look and um Mr. Mirrendino at our reserve fund and how often we use it. At one point our reserve fund was pretty high and we didn't need to keep it that high so we were able to pull from it. Um now we have to be a whole lot more careful. So where where it is at this point anyway. Um but I know we've talked about different things and I know that our staff has worked extraordinarily hard combing through the budget. Um and thank you for some of your ideas. Some of those things we already do with um doing the state funds to get the better prices and doing some things that have been brought to the table even recently to try to get the best best that we can get. Anyway, I know the most recent that um that our city manager has I think talked to um some of us each of us about was to try to see if we couldn't get that down. And it's not where uh we'd like to have it and it's not where um where who did the it's not your compromise quite but anyway to talk about the possibility of I think 189 to keep it at 19 89 and it prevents us at this point from having to cut staff and cut into more of our services. It's not where people here obviously want it. is not where we want it, but it's keeps us where we can um provide services and keep moving Bristol forward. So, I would that's my discussion. I could make an amendment if you if somebody would like me to. I mean, if you're if you're welcome to make an amendment. Any other people want to discuss before I make that amend amendment? Does any other discussion on this matter?

Okay. Uh I'll make that uh I make an amendment that uh we amend this uh resol this ordinance to be at 189. Okay. There's a motion here to amend the ordinance 25-13 as a whole including the budgeted revenues and budget expenditures so that revenues and expenses were based on tax rate of $189. Is there a second? Is there a second on this motion? Second. All right. So, we have a we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on a tax rate of $189 on the amendment? On the amend amendment. Yes. Any discussion? Okay. Seeing none, uh we are we are now voting on uh an the amended tax rate of $189 for the ordinance 25-13. Is that correct? Everybody understand? Okay. All right. Mary Lee, can you please call the role? Yes, sir. Fire Robin? Yes. Hutton? No. Powers. No. Acre. Yes. Turner. No. All right. Um, that ordinance uh does not pass. That amendment that amendment does not pass. So now we're back to the original ordinance which has it as at $1.98. So let me maybe restate that. No $1.92. Sorry.$1.92. Be pardon. So now it's an ordinance to adopt the annual budget and the tax rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, ending July

30th, 2026. Uh where the tax rate would be at $1.92. Uh we have we already have um a motion and a second. So now uh any further discussion on ordinance 25-13 from council? Seeing none, Mary Lee, can you please call the role? Yes, sir. Fire Robin, no. Hutton, no. Powers, no. Acard, no. Turner, no. Okay. Ordinance 25-13 fails. Okay. [Applause] So, we're going to move now to ordinance 25-14, which is an ordinance to amend the appropriations of funds and budget for fiscal year July 1, 2024 through June 30th, 2025. This item was also presented by Miss Von uh during the public hearing early this evening. The public had an opportunity to comment during that public hearing. Are there any questions for Miss Von on this matter from council? I'll move to approve ordinance 2514. Maybe I'll be more successful. We have a motion. Is there a second? Second. We have motion is second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Mary Lee, can you please call the role? Yes, sir. Fire Robbin? Yes. Hutton? Yes. Powers? Yes. Akard? Yes. Turner? Yes. We have one resolution for consideration tonight. Resolution 25-69. It's a resolution authorizing entry into a letter of agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia for fiscal year 2026. Federal Highway Administration Metropolitan Planning Funds for the Bristol Metropolitan Planning

Organization. Community Development Director Chair Young will present. Thank you, Mayor Hut. Good evening, council members. Um tonight I'm here just to request um your authorization to enter into a a annual contract that we signed with the Virginia Department of Transportation. Um as the fiscal agent for the Bristol NO, um the city does receive this uh funding annually. It's Federal Highways Administration monies and state of Virginia monies. Um, Virginia provides this money uh because it supports regional planning activities that are identified um in the unified work program of the NO. Um, we do typically bring this to you in either June or July for authorization to enter into the contract. Uh, but Virginia BOT has requested that we submit this paperwork by the end of the month, so June 30th. And so that's the reason for making the request tonight. So, uh, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Miss Young uh from council hearing? None. There's a motion to approve uh resolution 25-69. Motion to approve 2569. All right. A second. We got it. We have a motion and a second. Would anyone in the audience like to address council on this matter? All right. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Mayor Lee, will you please call the role? Yes, sir. Fire Robin, yes. Hutton, yes. Powers, yes. Akard, yes. Turner, yes. All right. We move now to uh city manager report. Thank you, mayor and councel. Just one update. The county public health clinic building uh will be

going to the Sullivan County Commission next Thursday, the 26th at 6 PM. Um hopefully that Thank you to Commissioner Harvey. I know she's in the audience tonight. She's been doing a lot of work on this and hopefully that has a positive outcome at that meeting. Um the building owner did decrease the price by 50,000 to account for some improvements to the HVAC system that need to occur. Um we have discussed city maintaining the upper portion of the parking lot where the city clinic is and then this the county would maintain the lower portion. um that's to res um repave or do anything like that. The city will provide general maintenance for the exterior of the property as we currently do. Um and then any significant building improvements that would impact both units would would be split 7030. Any internal um improvements to either of the units would be taken on by the the entity and looking at that uh four-year funding agreement as has been discussed. So, I just wanted to bring you up to date on that. um and and let you know I will be attending that meeting if anyone else would like to. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate you doing that very much. There's a moment now for city council comments. Is there any comments from city council members? Margaret, of course. Um which I mean this is pretty odd. So we'll get some instructions on what happens since we don't have a um budget at this time. So, um, so I wanted just to, um, thank everybody for attending and to, um, thank you for your comments. I know for some people that's not easy to do to stand up and speak at a microphone in this setting. So, really appreciate that. Um it is it's been an opportunity for some education um

and for better understanding of some of our process. A lot of our processes at our city work session. So those are all city meetings are open to the public. That's part of how it works. So um we welcome you to attend and learn more. A lot of y'all did a lot of homework. So really appreciate the homework that y'all did getting ready. Um, and we need to do a better job of getting the information out. It is communication is really hard. Our newspaper isn't what it used to be. Not everybody, as was pointed out, is on social media. Communication is a real challenge. It's always been difficult. Um, issues are complicated. So, we try to do we obviously need to do some different things. Um, and we want to improve communication and dialogue with our citizens. I wanted just to say a couple of things. Sorry, mayor, I'm taking a long time. Um, from a few of the comments, just to um, say a couple of things. Um, Men Lutral, who served as mayor, um, never owned, never made any money from the state liners. He's a volunteer. He's done that. and just needs for people to appreciate that he does not make money um by anything that the state liners do. Older buildings, we've seen um it's important to preserve our older buildings and sometimes the cities across our country step in to help with that. I know in our community, people grieve about bunting drugstore. At that time, our city had not ever stepped in. Um we have done that some. Macados and 620 State are examples of buildings that the city originally purchased and then worked for businesses to come in. Um, also we have a uh

recognition program for his historic um, uh, homes and also this year uh, Stone Castle was part of that as well. So, um, for our services, I know I've always heard people we're proud of our snow removal. Um, there's quite a bit of paving going on right now. Our trash, our garbage pickup has been great. We have had some issues with our trash pickup. We tried to save some dollars. Um, we're trying to adjust that and trying to figure out how we can u make it work better. So, we do want to hear from you. It's important when you do see things in your neighborhood that you call and let us know. Um, we're working on it with good intent to to serve swimming pool. Um, the Hazesfield pool got ahead of us or behind us or whatever and um, we're not on the timeline we should have been. There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes. A lot of things that happen. There's information can't be shared until there's a plan for a project, etc. Some of those things. Um that's how city economic development works. Um and I want to thank um Andrew Taylor especially. I think you um I totally agree city council and schools are not aligned. It's not healthy. It's not a healthy community. It's not what our citizens want. I do think communication is a basic key and then there's more to it than that. But I'm hoping that we can face that and recognize it and take some actions to to work on it. So, uh, thank you very much and thank you for the time. Absolutely. Any other comments here? You have any? I do not. Ray, do you have any comments? I, uh, I want to, um, I do want to say, um, I really, I mean this earnestly.

Thank you all for being here. Uh it has not been pleasant um but it has been good. Uh we live in a country where uh our people uh have an opportunity to come and speak and um and be heard. And so uh thank you uh earnestly. Thank you for being here and for uh participating in your city government. Uh hopefully going forward uh you'll take more opportunities to do that. Uh show up at our work sessions. um show up at these meetings, you have an opportunity to speak, reach out to us um and that sort of thing. We do value that. It's very important. We have an incredible community. Bristol is an amazing community, an amazing town. We have uh some great things happening and we do have a great city and a great city staff and we have great people who live here. Sometimes those things get uh get across purposes and how we navigate it is incredibly important. And so being here uh saying what you need to say is good. Uh so even if it's hard for some of us to hear it. So thank you. We we appreciate that very much. Uh we have more work to do. You've communicated that we have more work to do. Um the uh the the tax assessment that came out that that is not something that the city has any control over. That comes straight from the county. Uh and it hit like a bomb all across Sullivan County. Uh Kingsport has dealt with it. uh we're dealing with it. Uh it it just all of a sudden it was a bomb and we're trying to make those sorts of adjustments and our city staff and this council has been working and working working trying to figure out uh how do we maintain the city services that we need? Uh how do we continue to move forward as a city while at the same time not taxing our people to death? Uh we we don't want to do that. No one up here wants to be in the situation that we're in. We're trying to figure out the best going forward. Uh

personally, I can't promise that there won't be a tax increase. Uh I just I can't I wish I could, but I can't. Uh we've got we've got some work to do and uh we'll do the harder work that we need to do and we'll come back and do this same thing uh hopefully very soon. So again, I I really want to say thank to all of you for being here. It really is an important thing. So thank you. Uh and this meeting is now adjourned.