New Jackson City Council settles in for first meeting, faces budget issues

“I will support. And defend. And defend. The laws of the city of jackson. The laws of the city of jackson.”

With taking that, the new Jackson City Council was inaugurated and ready to beginning leading the city for the next four years.

“We have the potential to have the best council we have ever had. With the experience levels of the new councilmen and the experienced councilmen also with the different backgrounds.”

If the council does plan on becoming the best one ever, it has its work cut out for it already.

The first major item on the agenda is the city’s budget.

According to Councilman Paul Taylor, “Right now the question at the front of everybody’s mind is what is our capital budget for this year, so these are the items we’re going to be diving into right off the bat.”

The city’s current budget sits at around $74 million but with revenue stagnating and debt payments expected to reach over $10 Million in the coming years, the budget committee faces a crossroads.

What is the best way to boost revenue to cover infrastructure improvements and other important capital projects.

“Borrowing money as we discussed this morning is one option but as you said there are other ways to raise revenue and we’re going to have to look at all of those" says Councilman Earnest Brooks.

That other option could be raising taxes. As of now though, the council is looking into all other options.

“I don’t feel comfortable to be asking for anyone to raise taxes or fees without having a great justification for that.”

As part of the meeting the council also appointed a new beer board