Catoosa County leaders say the cost of developing land for Costco Wholesale at Interstate 75 and Cloud Springs Road will force millage rates up on property taxes, but increased sales tax revenue would keep property tax bills from climbing.
A slide presentation shown at Friday’s commission meeting by County Attorney Chad Young said the project would have “no negative impact on property taxes” and any millage rate “adjustments required for the project” would be “offset by increased sales tax revenues.”
The millage rate is calculated by dividing the portion of the budget that must be funded through property tax by the total dollar value of taxable property in the county.
As a formality, the millage rate would have to go up, officials said, but the sales tax would then basically be credited back to the property owners.
“There is going to have be a shift a in the millage rate, but we will equally roll back the sales tax to match that so it’s not going to affect the taxes,” Commission Chairman Keith Greene said.