RINGGOLD, Ga. -- Catoosa County property owners will see a tax increase of $9 for every $100,000 of property value if a budget presented Tuesday is passed.
The proposed 2010-11 budget, which would go into effect Oct. 1, shows expenses up $1 million from $22.9 million to $23.9 million. The Catoosa County Commission scheduled a public hearing to discuss the budget on July 20 at 9 a.m.
In a summary, county Financial Officer Carl Henson said most of the new expense comes from staffing a new fire station, two new sheriff's office employees and rising health insurance costs.
The proposed budget says the gross millage rate for property tax would remain the same at 9.239 mills, but the effective rate would increase nearly a quarter-mill to 5.614.
Effective millage rates, or net millage, is set by an equation balancing property tax and sales tax to reach the total needed to run the government. Because sales tax income is expected to come in $473,000 lower next year, the property side of the scale must swing up, Mr. Henson explained. That translates to an increase of $9.12 cents on a $100,000 home.
"We're essentially in the same situation we were last year," Mr. Greene said. "We're not getting the sales tax."
Commissioner Ken Marks said the possible tax increase is small, but that it still will anger some residents.
"An increase is an increase," he said.
He predicted the proposed budget would not pass and everyone would be headed back to the drawing board.
"That (budget) is not going to ride," Mr. Marks said.
Mr. Marks said the commission and staff would look deeper into the budget to try and find ways to eliminate the gap so they could roll back the tax.
Mr. Henson said he's already dug into the county's finances to tighten things up.
"Should it be rolled back, we're going to have to find $400,000 from some other source," he said.
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