Crossville City Council will send a proposed city ambulance service to referendum after voting to rescind its earlier approval during a special-called meeting Tuesday.
Crossville Finance Director Nathan Clouse said the city would have to raise property taxes by at least 97 percent in order to fund the ambulance service. Council Member Art Gernt said the new numbers made him rethink last month’s decision.
“I can’t imagine doubling somebody’s property taxes,” Gernt said. “It’s just I can’t imagine anybody here doing it. I mean, I really, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t see it, so I just want time to ingest this.”
Clouse said initial service costs were underestimated. Clouse revealed that first-year expenses would total up to an estimated $4.75 million. Clouse also said an ambulance service would likely never cover its own expenses and would lead to draining the city’s cash reserve.
Council Member Mike Turner said he wanted to send the ambulance service to a referendum. The council then approved sending the ambulance service to the November 2026 referendum with a 4-1 vote.
“I want a referendum on it, just like we brought up for the recreation center,” Turner said. “No matter what it costs. Let the people know what it costs and how it’s gonna be paid for, and the majority votes for it. That’s what I’m for.”
Before rescinding the decision, the council asked several questions about the timeline of implementation of the ambulance service and why the county has not raised property taxes to recoup the budget losses from the EMS Department. Mayor RJ Crawford said those questions need to be answered before the city moves forward with an ambulance service.
“I’m not against it, I’m no right now, I’m not no forever, but my thought and I shared this with you, run playbook for the rec center,” Crawford said. “And if you can’t get to a point where you can figure out a way to pay for it, then I’m like Councilman Turner. If you have to do property taxes, then do the referendum. That’s why I think we need to calm down a little bit here, and I think we need to rescind this and figure that out. I think we owe it to everybody in this room to figure that out and have a game plan. And then, honestly, I will be real with you if we can not keep it from being property tax like we were able to keep it off of property tax for the rec center, then it does need to be a referendum.”
Clouse said Crossville is in the top 30 percent of municipalities in Tennessee for the lowest tax rate. Clouse said approving a 97 percent tax increase would shift Crossville to the bottom 30 percent.
Several citizens spoke during the public comment period, asking the council to rescind its decision.
