Budget Time For The County

If the county budget approved by the Coffee County Budget and Finance Committee is approved by the full county commission next week, there will not be a tax increase in the coming year. The new budget calls for the ambulance service to have a separate funding in the budget. At the beginning of the budget hearings, the director of the ambulance service presented a list that showed the overtime for the ambulance service in the coming year will be just above $644,000. Director John Cathey stated that the ambulance service is considering charging $67 for special events. Representatives of the Coffee County Library were also present to protest the $12,100 decrease in their budget, stating that under the Maintenance of Effort agreement with the state, the county’s library patrons would lose a long list of services if the county government did not keep funding at the same level as the previous year.