Carter County commissioners in Elizabethton, Tenn. (WJHL) gave the green light to a budget on Monday night, managing to avoid a tax hike but requiring certain county agencies to make compromises.

The property tax rate is $2.18 per $100 of assessed property.

Carter County leaders said that after Hurricane Helene, the main thing their constituents asked for was no tax increase.

“A tax increase was never on the table,” Mayor Patty Woodby explained to News Channel 11. “Our plan was always to seek cuts or alternative revenue sources to ensure our budget was balanced.”

After several meetings, hours of discussion, and crunching of numbers, a budget without a tax hike was produced.

“I believe that many residents of Carter County are pleased with this decision,” shared Budget Committee Chair Bob Acuff. “Business proprietors and citizens alike, given the challenges and costs we’ve recently faced, welcomed the news.”

Woodby and Acuff said it was a team effort, with different departments bringing budgets that were as lean as possible. It also involved Sheriff Mike Fraley moving money within his budget.

“We had some money in reserve accounts that we were able to, help shift to balance the budget, which in essence, helped get an employee raise for all county employees,” Fraley said. “Plus, it was able to help fund some of the outside agencies.”

Full-time employees will receive a 75-cent per hour raise while part-time employees will get a 35-cent increase. The county also changed its insurance provider, which will save $180,000, with employees keeping the same benefits.

“Some of that reserve money and then also some of the savings that we seen from our insurance change, we were able to give each of our seven fire departments a $20,000 increase on top of their annual budget,” Woodby said. “So that’s a big deal for our volunteer fire departments.”

The county will keep funding for non-profits the same as last year, without any cuts.