| Weakley County considers 11-cent property tax hike |
By: Mary Jean Hall, Special to The Press
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Posted: Friday, July 13, 2012 12:51 pm
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After hours of deliberating, the county committee members decided Tuesday that an 11 cent property tax increase may be the best way to balance the budget.
The Weakley County Finance Ways and Means Committee held a series of meetings over the past week to decide how to balance the county budget.
That balance came from a mixture of three means: a property tax increase, tax revenue transferred from the debt service fund and budget cuts.
The newly proposed property tax rate is $2.17 per $100 of assessed property. The current rate is $2.06.
The revenue from the proposed $2.17 property tax would go into the four funds as follows: 61 cents into the general fund, 74 cents into the school fund, 22 cents into the highway fund, and 60 cents into the debt service fund.
Out of the proposed 11-cent property tax increase, 9 cents would go to the general fund and 2 cents would go into the highway fund.
For example, the average residential property value in Weakley County is about $130,000. Under the current $2.06 property tax rate, the owner would pay about $670 in county property taxes.
If the 11-cent property tax increase were to pass, the owner would then pay about $35 more, for a total of about $705 in county property taxes.
The FWM Committee proposed transferring some revenue from the debt service fund in order to avoid a 19-cent property tax increase. Currently the debt service fund receives 68 cents from property tax revenue.
The committee proposed to transfer 8 cents from the debt service fund, with 6 cents going into the general fund and 2 cents going into the highway fund. Commissioner Jim Westbrook informed the committee on Monday that the debt service fund had received most of the money from a one-half cent sales tax that lasted from 1998 until 2010.
The FWM Committee has been working with the other committees and the department representatives to cut some “necessary and unnecessary” expenses from the budget. Some of these cuts include materials, project funding, benefits, and even salaries.
The proposed budget will not change between now and the county commission meeting July 30. There will be a public hearing at 5 p.m. to allow the county residents to voice their opinions on the proposal.
The meeting will take place at the Weakley County Courthouse in Dresden. For more information or to find out how to contact your county commissioner, visit www.weakleycountytn.gov.
WCP 7.12.12
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