An unexpected loss of tax revenue has left Walker County with a $200,000 budget shortfall over the last two months and a $1 million tax anticipation note.
“We’re borrowing just to survive right now and we can’t afford to borrow anymore,” said Walker County Financial Officer Greg McConnell. “We can’t handle another hit like that.”
The shortfall is the result of an overpayment in use tax from a regional manufacturer who operates within the county.
“A manufacturer somewhere in the state of Georgia overpaid their use tax,” explained Walker County McConnell who added that other counties have been affected by this overpayment as well. “[That money] has been withheld from our funds for the last two months.”
Earlier this summer Sole Commissioner Bebe Heiskell signed a similar $3 million tax anticipation note, which brings the county’s total debt to $4 million.
“We’re already not doing real well anyway,” said McConnell. “The revenue overall has been down and we haven’t cut expenditures to meet that. “
The tax anticipation notes must be paid off no later than Dec. 31 and will be paid through the estimated $6 million tax levy expected to come through in in December, he said.