Jackson City Council members pass first reading of FY 24-25 budget

JACKSON, Tenn. — Council members passed the first reading for the City of Jackson’s proposed budget, one of the largest in recent years.

We learned Friday the budget includes nearly $6-million dollar increase in salaries for city workers which includes new hires if any.

Councilman Larry Lowrance drilled down on the numbers. He says, The numbers show the fire department will see almost 10% increase.

Jackson Police Department will see more than a 15% increase. Other city workers will also see an increase in pay of roughly 15%.

According to government statistics, the national average for raises is between 3-6%.

In Fiscal Year 2023, the budget was $88 million dollars. It increased $4 million dollars or about 4.5% in fiscal year 24 to 92-million dollars.

From 2024 to 2025, it’s proposed to increase roughly $7 million dollars, or almost 8%, to 99 million dollars. The inflation rate is 4.1% in the City of Jackson.

City spending has almost doubled the rate of inflation.

“When you actually look at the true expenditures of the general fund, $16-million dollar increase, 20% increase in two years. I’m not saying it’s good and bad. That’s a pretty healthy increase though,” said Councilman Larry Lowrance.

Based on different polls, citizens said they are more concerned about roads than other city projects.

Mayor Conger says they propose to borrow more money and part of that is for roads.

However that puts the city deeper into the red.

The bottom line is where the money comes from to fund the proposed salaries increases

“This is not a criticism, this is how government grows and gets so big. Everything that you talk about is a good idea. The homeless shelter is a tremendous idea but you’ve got to figure out who’s paying for it in the taxpayers. And I’m wondering if the tax payers are really happy with a 14.4% increase in salaries in one year,” said Lowrance.

Council will to vote on the second reading July 19 to determine if the budget is fully approved.

If you’re a Jackson resident and would like to weigh in on the matter, you can contact Mayor Scott Conger or your City Council representative.

Mayor Scott Conger can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (731) 425-8240.

City Council emails:

For more local news, click here.

Categories: Local News, Madison County, News, Seen On 7