DeKalb Animal Coalition Hoping County Commission Votes More Funding for Shelter Tonight (Tuesday)

August 17, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Members and supporters of the DeKalb Animal Coalition will be observing with great anticipation tonight (Tuesday) as the county commission considers passage of the 2021-22 fiscal year budget which includes more county funding for the animal shelter.

The budget committee has recommended that the county up its annual contribution to the animal coalition from $3,000 to a total of $39,805 to help fund the hiring of another employee. That would bring to three the total number of staff positions at shelter

Two year shelter employee Emmaly Bennett, who was just named Director by the Coalition, recently came before the budget committee to make the case for extra funding. Statistics provided by Bennett showed that from November 6, 2017 when it opened until July 1, 2021, the shelter had taken in overall 1,410 animals including 488 from the City of Smithville (34.60%) and 922 (65.39%) from DeKalb County. Bennett said that while almost two thirds of the animals coming into the shelter are from outside the City of Smithville but inside DeKalb County, the City of Smithville is doing far more to help support the shelter than the county. Just last week, the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen approved an amended lease and contract with the coalition to contribute $100,000 in the first full year of the new deal with a $1,000 per year increase over the next fifteen years. The funding amount was one of several changes made by agreement between the city and coalition in the amended contract from the original approved in December, 2015.

In August 2015, the county commission made its own deal with the coalition before the shelter was built. At that time former county commissioner Jack Barton made the following motion which was adopted by the commission and is still in effect. “This is a one time donation of $75,000 by DeKalb County earmarked for the construction of an animal shelter by the DeKalb Animal Coalition. This donation is conditional. The county will not be responsible for the hiring and payroll of any employees relating to the animal shelter and will not be responsible for the operation of the shelter or the future funds needed to operate the shelter. Also the Coalition will pick up animals for the county when a request is made from the county mayor’s office or the sheriff’s department at a fee of $100 and $50 for a dead head if they fail to pick up an animal. That will be paid by the county to the coalition for those animals that are requested by the county mayor’s office or the sheriff’s department,” said Barton.

Today the county pays $110 per aggressive animal picked up by the coalition upon request of the county mayor or sheriff which has come to only $1,100 over the last year.

During recent meetings, Fifth district county commissioner Jerry Adcock has argued that the county needs to stick to the deal it made with the coalition in 2015 and not contribute any more taxpayer money to the shelter. And if its true that 65% or more of the animals taken in are owner surrenders and strays coming from outside the city but within the county, Adcock said the people bringing them in should be charged a fee by the shelter for their upkeep.

Bennett said that would only discourage people and not solve the problem.

According to Bennett, the shelter needs extra funding from the county to better staff and care for all the animals, dogs and cats.

“ We bring them in and vet them. We rehabilitate them. We send them to rescues. We adopt them out. Its all the same process whether the animals come from the city or county and we need help and funding to do that,” said Bennett.

As for animal control, “We receive phone calls daily from those who need our assistance and as of right now its just really hard for us to get to them,” Bennett continued. “With another employee that would help with responding to animal control calls in the county and city as well. Two people have to respond to an animal control at all times for safety reasons and we must be accompanied by a law enforcement officer because we are not animal control officers,” she said.

Another concern by Adcock and other county commissioners is that a salary of almost $40,000 to a shelter employee (funded as a contribution by the county to the coalition) would be more than what some county employees earn.

Bennett admits that while the goal is to add another employee to the staff, the coalition would decide how to spend any extra money it gets from the county.

“That request of $39,805 was a model of my exact salary that we pulled from the city to get to $15 per hour (for an employee) but the coalition would be in charge of the hiring and what the pay rate would be. It might start at $12 per hour and some of the money might be used to offset vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, spay and neutering. It would be used as needed because we have to pay for all those things,” said Bennett.

Even with extra help and funding the shelter is limited in how many animals it can house at a given time and when it reaches capacity there has to be a waiting period before accepting more. “We have 20 dog kennels and once we are full we can’t take anymore. We do keep two kennels open at all times for aggressive animals that we might have to pickup,” said Bennett.

When the shelter reaches capacity, it often makes available pet food and other supplies to help people on the waiting list care for the strays until there is room for them.

The animal coalition makes every effort to find stray dogs and cats a home but sometimes help is needed. That’s when the shelter calls upon animal rescues.

“We partner with a variety of local, out of state, and breed specific animal rescues in order to provide more and sometimes better opportunities for the companion animals in our care to find their homes,” said Bennett.

“Some rescues have adopters already committed to taking our dogs and cats prior to them ever leaving our shelter. Some go straight to a foster that provides a loving, nurturing home environment while pets wait for their adopter. Others are transported out of state to a foster or adoption facility. All the rescues we work with are no kill and choose which animals they are able to help and that is particularly vital when we have animals that need special care, socialization, or are not adjusting to shelter life very well,” she continued.

“We are thankful to have the contacts and opportunities to work with rescues. It allows us at the DeKalb Animal Shelter to maintain our low kill policy while still serving our community to the best of our ability. We only have so many kennels so the more adoptions and rescues we facilitate the more availability we have to take in pets in need within our community,” said Bennett.

The county commission will meet in special session tonight (Tuesday, August 17) at 6:30 p.m. for the sole purpose of considering passage of the 2021-22 county budget. A public hearing will be held prior to the meeting at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center.

August 17, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Decision time!

The DeKalb County Commission will meet in special session tonight (Tuesday, August 17) at 6:30 p.m. for the sole purpose of considering approval of the 2021-22 budgets for all county departments. A public hearing will be held prior to the meeting at 6 p.m. at the auditorium of the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center or county complex.

The consolidated budget includes pay raises for teachers and school support staff along with a particular group of county employees among others. New spending has been added as a contribution for another full time employee at both the animal shelter operated by the DeKalb Animal Coalition and at the E911 Center. The ambulance service day truck operation is to be expanded to 12 hours a day, seven days a week with three new EMS employees. The budget committee even added new money for a variety of other projects including repairs to the Alexandria Senior Citizens Center building, which is owned by the Town of Alexandria but patronized by people from throughout the county.

While assessments have changed due to reappraisal, the county’s new certified property tax rate is to be lower than last year dropping from $2.1235 to $1.7308 per $100 of assessed value but it is expected to generate about the same amount of local revenue as this past year.

The tax rate is to be distributed to the various funds as follows:

County General: 0.9891 cents
Highway/Public Works: 0.0326 cents
General Capital Projects: 0.0734 cents
General Debt Service: 0.1060 cents
General Purpose Schools: 0.5298
Total property tax rate: $1.7308

Budget highlights if approved by the county commission include the following from the School Budget, County General, Road Department, Capital Projects, and Non-Profit Charitable contributions:

DeKalb County Schools:
*DeKalb County teachers, support staff, and bus drivers are to get the largest local pay raise ever in a single year as adopted by the Board of Education and recommended by the county budget committee for the 2021-22 year. If approved by the county commission the raise would be for $5,000 per teacher and other certified personnel (230 employees) and a $3,000 increase in pay for support staff (166 employees). Bus drivers will not share in the support staff raises but will be getting a pay hike just for them. Starting pay for bus drivers is to jump from $74 to $100 per day. Pay for bus drivers with five or more years of service is to go to $115 per day and drivers of special education bus routes are to earn $120 per day. Meanwhile all middle and high school head coaches and assistant coaches are to each get an increase of $715 in supplement pay. Money is also included in the budget to fund an assistant coaching position in nine sports programs at the middle school and high school where the head coach currently has no assistant coach.

Pay Raises for Particular Group of County Employees:
*A revision in the base pay of county employees who fall under two separate wage scales already in place. Both are 13-tiered plans including an administrative employee pay scale which tops out at 20 years and applies mainly to employees who work for elected and appointed county officials at the courthouse and county complex. The other plan tops out at 13 years and is for full-time library staff and senior center directors. Under the 20-year plan, the pay increases could range from $3,744 to $4,896 annually depending on years of service, while raises for those in the 13-year plan are to jump by $2,976 to $4,128. The total amount of the proposed pay hikes, including benefits, would add $129,703 in new spending to the county budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Custodians:
*Custodians who work at the courthouse and county complex will get at least a $3,000 pay raise according to their wage scale

Full Time Solid Waste Employees:
*Full time solid waste CDL drivers and laborers are to get a pay raise according to their wage scale

Judicial Commissioners:
*The three Judicial Commissioners are to each get a $1,000 per year pay raise. The salaries are to go from $12,900 to $13,900 per year

Juvenile Court Youth Service Officer:
*The Juvenile Court Youth Service Officer is to get a $4,000 pay raise

DeKalb Animal Coalition:
*Contribution of $39,805 to hire an additional full time employee with benefits at the animal shelter. The money is to go to and the employee is be hired by and under the control of the Coalition and not the county at the starting wage of $15 per hour.

Senior Citizens Assistance Senior Program:
*Total appropriation of $83, 179 including a $10,000 contribution to the Alexandria Senior Citizens Center (building owned by Town of Alexandria) for repairs to the facility

DeKalb Fire Department:
*Funds for 5% grant match to purchase 70 new sets of turnout gear and a 5% grant match to purchase a new Quint fire truck pumper equipped with a short aerial. Total local grant match for both projects combined is $43,214. If the grants are not awarded then the local grant match funding would not be spent.

*Another $25,000 in seed money ($50,000 total) is included in the budget to eventually build a fire department station in the Wolf Creek Community. The county first set aside $25,000 in seed money for the project in this year’s budget (2020-21). (Capital Projects Fund)

*Funding of $10,000 to add unisex restrooms at two fire stations (Blue Springs and Johnson’s Chapel). Rooms will be enclosed within the existing fire stations consisting of a toilet and pumping system to an outside tank. There will be no septic system. (Capital Projects Fund)

*Funding for a 45% grant match ($115,000) to purchase a new fire truck under the USDA Rural Development Facility Grant Program. The grant has been awarded. (Capital Projects Fund).

*Carryover funding of $80,000 already allocated but not spent from this year’s budget (2020-21) as a local grant match for the purchase of a new tanker under the Community Development Block Grant Program. The grant has already been awarded the county but the tanker has not yet been delivered. (Capital Projects Fund).

*Existing shared county firefighter position pay to increase from $12 to $15 per hour (total cost $31,200). No one specific individual holds the 40 hour per week position. Available county firefighters, who are trained and certified, rotate in and out of the position as needed. No one works more than 24 hours per week.

DeKalb Sheriff’s Department:
*Funding for the purchase of four new patrol cars with equipment package ($165,000)- (Capital Projects Fund)

DeKalb Assessor of Property:
*Funding for purchase of new pickup truck to replace 2006 model with 180,000 miles ($30,000)- (Capital Projects Fund)

EMS:

*DeKalb EMS currently operates with two 24 hour trucks (ambulances) seven days a week along with a day truck ambulance Monday through Friday each week from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. The budget committee voted to expand the use of the day truck operation to 12 hours a day, seven days a week to meet the increasing demands. Three new EMS employees will be added to the staff.

*Funding for new four wheel drive EMS SUV ($30,000) to replace a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria with approximately 160,000 miles- (Capital Projects Fund)

*Funding for Stryker cot loading system on four ambulances at a cost of $25,000 each ($100,000 total)- (Capital Projects Fund)

*Pay raise for director: $2,000

Solid Waste :
*Funding for one and possibly two used pickup trucks ($20,000 total)- (Capital Projects Fund)

*Funding for purchase of possibly 4 dumpsters and 2 compactors ($75,000)- ($50,000 of which was already allocated but unspent from this past year)- (Capital Projects Fund)

*Convenience sites improvements including pavement repair ($50,000)- (Capital Projects Fund)

Fire Hydrant
*Funding for another fire hydrant in the Wolf Creek Community ($8,000). The first hydrant was funded and installed this past year-(Capital Projects Fund)

Courthouse and 911 building improvements
*Funding for repairs to 911 building ($25,000)- (Capital Projects Fund)

*Funding for outside surveillance cameras at courthouse and for a camera in the judicial commissioners’ office inside the courthouse plus other courthouse repairs ($20,000)- (Capital Projects Fund)

*Remodeling first floor courtroom of courthouse ($40,000)- (Capital Projects Fund)

DeKalb County Complex Digital Sign:

A total of $20,000 is budgeted for a new digital sign to be located near the DeKalb County Farmers Market for higher visibility to promote activities at the Farmers Market and County Complex. (Capital Projects Fund)

Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad:
*Additional contribution of $8,821 for fuel reimbursement to rescue squad member volunteers. (County already budgets $3,179 for fuel reimbursement)

*Additional funding of $3,500 to upkeep swift water rescue equipment as it wears out. (County has already appropriated $18,000 to equip and train 15 volunteers for a new swift water rescue task force this year. Total contribution to Rescue Squad- $38,321, up from $26,000 . The Rescue Squad, a non-profit organization, is not an entity of county government. The county appropriates funds each year as a contribution to the volunteer group.

DeKalb County Emergency Communications District (E-911)
* Additional contribution of $40,405 to fund another dispatcher position. The county’s annual contribution to the E-911 operation will increase from $119,595, to $160,000. Between the county, city, and E-911 district, four more dispatchers will be added (funded one each by the city and county and two by E-911) in order to have three dispatchers per shift (four shifts). The city and county each currently fund three dispatch positions and the Town of Alexandria provides funding while the DeKalb County E-911 picks up the remaining costs for dispatchers.

DeKalb Highway Department:
*Although the county will not be funding any additional local tax revenue, the county highway department plans to make use of the state and local tax dollars it has to maintain and improve roads and bridges as best it can. Plans are to add five new full time employees to the staff of 22. Five part time seasonal employees have also been employed this summer. Upcoming projects include a $1.1 million state aid bridge replacement over Sink Creek on Big Rock Road and paving a portion of Lower Helton Road which is expected to deplete the department’s current $600,000 state aid allocation and require an expenditure of about half a million dollars of the available fund balance. Several department funded tar and chip road projects are also planned.

Non-Profit and Charitable Contributions are as follows:
*Fire Prevention and Control-Tennessee Forestry Division: $1,500

*Other Public Safety-DeKalb County Rescue Squad: $38,321

*Regional Mental Health-Plateau Mental Health: $7,180

*Senior Citizens Assistance-Senior Program: $83,179

*DeKalb County Soil Conservation District: $38,927

*DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce: $25,000

*Imagination Library: $8,000

*Veterans Honor Guard: $2,000

*DeKalb County Fair: $5,000

*WCTE: $5,000

*UCHRA Assessment-Homemaker Aids, Etc: $9,245

August 16, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A Friday night fire has left a family displaced.

The Smithville Fire Department was summoned to the residence of Angie Campbell at 424 Morgan Drive at 8:03 p.m. Chief Charlie Parker said no one was home at the time. The fire apparently started in the kitchen and dining room. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to that area to keep it from spreading but the rest of the home received smoke and water damage. Campbell and her six children lost much of their belongings.

The local chapter of the American Red Cross was contacted to provide assistance to the family

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