Without a doubt, the economy trumped all other stories in The Commerce News during 2009.
As the recession deepened, its effects reached into virtually every area of news coverage. School systems and local governments struggled to make ends meet, all but shut down capital spending and laid off or furloughed workers. For the first time in memory, local budgets went down.
The recession contributed to the need to sell BJC Medical Center, to the low bid on the construction of the new Commerce High School.
Unemployment surpassed 11 percent, and while government officials have said the recession is over, you can’t prove that locally.
On a positive note, the bid for the new CHS came in at $14.6 million, well under the target of $17 million.
But that was about the only good economic news. In March, Freedom Bank failed, and the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce, seeing the handwriting on the wall, trimmed its budget. Likewise, Commerce aimed to trim its operating costs by 15 percent as budget preparations got under way.
The Jackson County Board of Education laid off 38 people, announced furloughs and closed the Regional Evening School, trimming $2.3 million from its budget.
In April, the dollar value of foreclosures hit a record of $85.2 million, and the city learned that it would get $1.1 million in stimulus funds, 60 percent of which had to be paid back, for improvements to its oxidation ponds. Fortunately for the city, the amount of repayment was later lowered to 30 percent.
In May, BJC Medical Center asked for $3.7 million from Banks and Jackson counties to cover new short-term debt and accounts receivable it could not pay. The counties chose not to participate.
Commerce’s draft budget was 28 percent lower than the 2008-09 document. In June, the city council passed what city manager Clarence Bryant called “an extreme” budget - of $23.6 million - off almost $10 million from the previous year.
In spite of the drop in property values, the 2009 tax digest for Jackson County rose 1.3 percent, officials announced in July. That same month, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced furlough days and QBE cuts for school systems. The unemployment rate for Jackson County hit 11.2 percent.
Throughout the county, numerous businesses quietly closed their doors. Most of the rest continue to struggle as 2009 draws to a close, hoping that 2010 will bring some relief. School systems, their reserves gone or depleted, anxiously await announcements of further cuts in state spending early next year and wondering what they will mean to personnel and programs.
Recaps of other top stories of the year can be found in the Dec. 30 edition of The Commerce News
Business: The effort to sell BJC Medical Center to Restoration Healthcare of Tennessee will carry into 2010.
Education: The beginning of construction of a new Commerce High School finally began.
Politics: Events, from a death to a resignation to the election during 2009 result in the turnover of four of six seats on the Commerce City Council.
Crime: The murder of 6-year-old Michael Levigne by his grandfather stunned the Commerce community.
