County commission to auction off tax rate
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While everyone knows there isn?t really a County Commission property tax rate auctioneer, the mood may be very much like a classic auction tomorrow night as county commissioners try to come up with a property tax rate that will pull in at least 13 votes when the commission votes on a new budget. It?s a budget that will come after an almost certain no vote on the current budget, which calls for what everyone agrees is a non-passable, 75-cent increase.
With committees and departments still wrangling about who should make drastic cuts to their budgets, but with nobody actually making any, some commissioners at a recent Budget and Finance Committee meeting say county government is just spinning its wheels. Commissioner Terry Bell went so far as to come up with some ideas for major cuts, including, among others, the county?s proposed 9 cent share of the teacher raises included in the school budget, as well as new cars for the sheriff?s department and the allocation for the Industrial Development Board, proposing instead to issue capital outlay notes to fund those purchases and IDB projects as needed.
But other commissioners pointed out the notes would only be a delaying tactic and would have to be paid off at some point, noting the commission has essentially been putting off raising taxes for four years using similar tactics, which is the main reason the county is in its current situation.
In reply, Bell said his suggestions were simply an effort to goad the commission into some sort of action.
?I know you?ve got to look at everything,? Bell said. ?I know these are not the answers. It?s just something you can look at. It?s an alternative, I?ll put it that way. And it looks like to me that?s what this court is searching for. You haven?t got enough votes for a tax increase, but nobody wants to cut anything.?
?I?m going to agree with him on that,? said Commissioner David Grissom, noting that director of accounts Linda Hillis would have the best feel for what would and would not work. At which Hillis once again pointed out the obvious.
?The budget as it is proposed, with the expenses that are in there right now, cannot operate on the tax rate we currently have,? Hillis said. ?There?s no way.?
Committee chairman George Smartt agreed.
?So we come back to the question, how much of an increase will it take,? Smartt said.
Bell once again expressed his frustration at the commission?s inaction.
?Nobody wants to cut anything,? Bell said. ?Are we just going to run these budgets around the room and run them around again until we come up with an answer? Somebody?s got to come up with a compromise somewhere.?
Smartt had an idea for coming up with a rate the commission could live with.
?We all recognize 75 cents is not going to pass,? Smartt said. ?We?re going to vote it down. I would like to see us immediately after that come back and see what type of tax rate we could pass. If we can?t pass a tax rate to fit the budget, we should make the budget fit the tax rate we can agree to. We?ll just keep throwing one out until we pass it.?
?So we?re going to auction off the tax rate,? said David Hill.?
?That?s it,? said Smartt.