The Hamblen County Departments presented budgetary requests for Fiscal Year 2027 in an all-day meeting increase Saturday at the Courthouse.

Various department heads gathered to present their department’s proposed budget to the Commission.

Among the requests, Hamblen County Assessor of Property Keith Ely requested for an additional deputy assessor for his department. Ely is currently has five deputies.

“In my 22 years, we have (gone) from 31,000 parcels to 35,576 parcels, which is about a 16% increase,” Ely said. “We’ve also gone from $3 million to $10 million that we oversee. We have increased over the last 22 years from patios, garages, industrial buildings, and so forth.”

TCA made mention that 67-1-506 that the assessor should have a deputy for every 4,500 parcels.

“Well, at 31,500 parcels, we should have six deputies,” Ely said. “We’re running with five, so we’ve been doing fine. Now, we’re getting close to seven deputies since we’re at 35,000 parcels. I’m only asking for one because we’ve gone from a five-year reappraisal to a four-year reappraisal plan with the in- dex meaning quite a bit more work for us.”

The deputy assessor will cost $35,000 a year.

Ely also requested an increase of $1,700 for the reappraisal program.

In presenting his budget requests, Election Commissioner Jeff Gardner noted the Election Commission’s budget will be more year over year due to the fact that there are three elections this year as compared to only one last year.

Outgoing Register of Deeds Jim Clawson announced that by the time he will be leaving the office in August, all of the records across the history of Hamblen County will have been digitized, eliminating the need for bulky books with deeds.

“We have had a book project that I’ve been working on for 30 years which is coming to an end,” he said. “These commissioners have funded this project every single year since 1996. This job is almost complete. I want to thank the commission. Herbert Harville (father of current commissioner Stan Harville) was on the commission when this was (first) funded.”

While the department’s budget is expected to drop with the project being completed, Clawson also requested a travel increase for new Register of Deeds Todd Marshall for professional conferences and education opportunities.

Maintenance Supervisor Terry Myers requested an increase in $40,625 for custodial personnel due to the opening of the new Justice Center, $20,000 for part-time personnel.

He also cited changes in maintenance agreements for the justice center which resulted in a $56,000 increase, another contract called for a $40,000 increase, $50,000 increase for electricity use, as well as a $100,000 increase for natural gas. Another $9,000 was requested for maintenance equipment.

Some of the custodial service was taken from the Health Department budget and placed into the maintenance budget. Budgets for the Health Department and the UT-Agriculture Extension Office will be under one item once both offices located to the Oak Tree Plaza complex on Buffalo Trail in June.

McKinney will retire from Hamblen County in June.

Trustee Scotty Long was asking for a $22,000 increase due to some of his department employees making changes to their health insurance plans.

A four-year surety bond priced at $15,000 was brought to light with Long expressing concern that the county doesn’t have to provide that since insurance covers all elected officials up to $400,000 per occurrence.

Budget Director Amanda Hale said that she got a quote for Long’s insurance policy since it was presented for $12,000 a year. The state attorney general opined that the surety bond for Long is not required and that the insurance issued Hamblen County’s carrier is sufficient to cover Long and other elected officials.

Hale received this assurance in writing from the insurance company, as well as approval from County Attorney Chris Capps.

“It’s your choice as the legislative body to decide,” Hale said.

Long noted that the previous trustee could not be bonded.

Data Processing Director Jeff Atkins asked for increases for software subscriptions and software equipment.

Circuit Court Clerk Teresa West asked for increases in maintenance agreements and in the jury trials line.

General Sessions Court Section I Judge Steven Collins asked for $52,000 for the Magistrate Supervisor’s position that is shared between the two judges.

Section II Judge Blake Sempkowski will receive an increase in salary, as mandated by the state.