The town of Signal Mountain and the city of Red Bank are raising property taxes, which both municipalities rely on for most of their revenue.
Both plan to use part of the increased property tax revenue to cover the cost of increasing pay for at least a portion of staff.
Signal Mountain plans to raise its certified tax rate by 6 cents, or about 4%, going from $1.6412 to $1.7102 per $100 of a property’s assessed value.
The town would have needed to raise the certified rate by 10 cents to cover the cost of staff pay increases recommended by the town’s personnel committee based on a recent salary study. The 6-cent increase was a compromise reached by the council that will result in a slightly lower increase in pay for staff.
Councilman Andrew Gardner was the only council member who did not vote for the increase.