At the end of the current Tennessee General Assembly session April, SJR 48, an increase in the 9-1-1 surcharge rate from $1.50 to $1.86 per customer per month, was passed and sent to the Governor’s office for signature.

In his budget presentation Saturday before the Hamblen County Commission, Eric Carpenter, director of Hamblen County Emergency Communications District reported that on April 24, the District met and approved a Fiscal Year 2027 budget that was $70,000 to the positive.

The Tennessee State Senate had approved SJR. 48 which was to increase the District’s revenue to $407,000 a year. A week later, Gov. Bill Lee vetoed SJR. 48. As a result, the $70,000 to the positive budget went to $336,000 in the red.

“There’s a big difference between a reason and an excuse,” Carpenter said. “A reason has a solid, factual basis.”

Carpenter said that he had spent the past week saying how Lee failed that test.

“That ship has sailed and that money is gone,” Carpenter said. “Now, the responsibility of sustaining what is the most critical foundation in our public safety element has been sent from Nashville back to you.” Commissioner Thomas Doty took issue with the District’s $152,000 increase, a 40% increase.

“What has made your budget have a need to increase by 40%?” Doty asked.

Carpenter said that last year’s numbers against this year’s numbers, were also in the red.

“Last year, we didn’t come back to seek any additional funding. When we took that funding, you would have seen that Section 130 money (which is one-time money that comes in November to offset that), those expenses went into that money as amended. That’s what makes the difference look a little larger from last year to this year.”

Carpenter also explained another factor in the deficits.

“One is healthcare expenses, which went up 7% on the state insurance program, increases in maintenance agreements for our CAD system and we took on additional GIS mapping issues, which were necessary in order to have all of the licenses for mapping that goes out on the EMTs for all the city and county. One of our maintenance agreements increased by $25,000.”

“Nobody has come forward with a 40% increase and a lot of the agencies dealt with grant monies and grants to balance their budgets,” Doty said. “This is just astronomical as far as a percentage increase.”

Carpenter said that this increase being over a year is not accurate, saying that this increase has come over the last two or three years.

“We did not seek the additional revenue when we were in the red last year because SJR 48 had been introduced,” he said. “Our hope was that we wouldn’t have to come back and have this conversation with this body or the (Morristown) City Council, that the governor and the legislature would allow that to be done; not with state funds, but through that surcharge.”

The budget currently has a 3% cost of living raise for employees, Carpenter said.

There are 16 dispatchers, three of which are working supervisors. According to national standards from two different organizations, Hamblen County 9-1-1 should be staffed from between 18 to 20 dispatchers.

Carpenter said that 9-1-1 is not allowed to use fund balance reserves for operating expenses.

“Those reserves were used to offset the match for the Health Department when they purchased their (new) building. What’s left in that fund balance will be used to renovate as the Health Department vacates its property on Main Street,” Carpenter said.

County Mayor Chris Cutshaw said that the District has been cooperative in buying the soon-to-be vacated Health Department building as it awaits construction on the new Health Department at Oak Tree Plaza on Buffalo Trail.

“It is their (Emergency Communications) building and we’re glad that cooperation has been there,” Cutshaw said.

Cutshaw said that a Mutual Technical and Advisory Service Model has County funding for $151,000. Both the county and Morristown fund the Emergency Communications District equally through this model. The original budget before the veto happened called for $162,000 from Hamblen County.

The MTAS model is formulated through population and calls for service volume. Carpenter called the MTAS model a “fairer” model.

Total revenue from surcharges, city participation, county participation, what interest the Emergency Communications District receives on their accounts from state subsidies totals $1,997,047, according to Carpenter. The District has zero debt.

“Just salaries, wages and employee benefits totals $1,720,850,” Carpenter said. “That means you have $276,000 left; you’ve not done any maintenance agreements, fulfilled any contracts, bought supplies or materials, maintenance, workman’s comp insurance, general liability, put gas in a car, utilities, trained one hour, any GIS or mapping, audit or legal services or put any money back for depreciation.”

One of the annual maintenance agreements totals $232,000.

“I’m left with $44,000 to run my 9-1-1 Center for a year,” Carpenter said. “So that request is NOT astronomical.”

Doty later told Carpenter that his “astronomical” statement was not meant to provoke or agitate. In fact, Doty wrote a letter to the legislature to attempt to override Lee’s veto.