It’s rare that citizens request a tax increase, but Signal Mountain officials say that’s the sentiment the majority of constituents they’ve heard from have expressed.
On Monday, Signal Mountain Town Council voted to raise property taxes by 15 cents per $100 of assessed value during the town’s monthly workshop meeting. The measure will come up for its second vote at the regular meeting in July.
The property tax increase raises the tax rate from $1.51 to $1.66 per $100 of assessed value.
The town has been paying 30 cents of every $1.51 per $100 of assessed value toward the debt incurred from the construction of Signal Mountain Middle/High School, 11 cents more than the minimum required.
The council had voted June 20 to leave the tax rate the same by channeling the extra 11 cents being paid on the school note into the general fund to help cover the deficit. This would have left around a $47,000 hole that would have then come from the general fund, based on the proposal at that time.