Cumberland Budget Includes Property Tax Decrease And Raises

The Cumberland County Commission approved its new fiscal year budget with a lower property tax Tuesday.

Cumberland County Mayor Allen Foster said it was reduced from $1.5653 to $1.1350. Foster said the increase of property values allowed the change to happen without losing revenue.

“It’s hours and hours of work,” Foster said. “The commissioners generally go through every single line of every budget. It’s a multiple inch thick binder full of documents with multiple departments. It is a lot of work.”

Foster said a big part of this budget was a six percent pay increase for all county employees. Foster said the EMS department was also pushed to the next step in the county pay scale.

“We’re competing with the public and private sector as well to try and get some good employees,” Foster said. “We have a lot of good employers here that have raised their wages, and so we have a third party that will periodically exam what we pay compared to others in the area to see where we stand.”

According to Foster, the Sheriff’s Department may also receive up to four new deputies. If grant funding is not received, two new deputies will be added. An additional person will be added at the Property Assessor’s Office, as well as at the library.

The budget also includes about $3.5 million of capital improvements. It includes a new Election Commission office at 83 Northside Lane, courthouse windows and landscaping, paving at the animal shelter, painting the Community Complex grandstand, 5 patrol cars, 38 body cameras, lighting for courtrooms 2-4, Pelco video surveillance system replacement (jail), fire brush and tanker trucks, 3 ambulance remounts, an animal shelter van and Obed River Park security cameras.