Crossville City Council split on the decision to reduce charitable donations in the just-passed city budget.
It was mentioned that donations for the Friends of the Trails and the Avalon Center were reduced or removed altogether. Mayor RJ Crawford said the city’s charitable donations had grown to an estimated $400,000.
“My fear is we are going back to exactly what we are doing is, this is gonna turn into an additional $25,000, will then go to $100,000, it’s just gonna continue, cause what I’m finding is people are utilizing city funds and taxpayer funds to offset their budgets,” Crawford said.
Crawford said some outside organizations are county-specific and should be asking for money from the county. Council Member James Mayberry said outside organizations like Hospice are a worthwhile donation.
“Anybody that has had any experience with them, and I mean, I don’t know how many people have had to deal with hospice in the city of Crossville, one came to see me yesterday, but what they do is amazing,” Mayberry said.
A few council members requested to add some of the donations back into the budget. Crawford said he has already had a conversation with some of the outside organizations.
“The Avalon Center is getting the money as I had asked them to do from the county,” Crawford said. “The $3,000 you’re putting back in, they are getting that from the county based on what the county budget committee had just done, so that’s where I’m at. I’m just trying to get us to a point where people don’t have this expectation that city taxpayer money is going to organizations that they necessarily don’t agree with.”
Crawford said if they add one organization back into the budget, then they would have to add all of them back because it would be difficult to pick winners and losers. Crawford said he wanted to reduce charitable donations to focus on offsetting costs for the recreation facility, paying employees consistently, adding proper benefits, and investing in capital improvement plans.
The council ultimately approved the budget on final reading as it was originally proposed.
