While the possibility of decreasing the amount of state-shared sales tax that comes back to municipalities may no longer be a concern, towns – especially Signal Mountain and Walden – could face an even bigger threat to their bottom line.
Local state Rep. Patsy Hazlewood visited the town of Signal Mountain’s recent town hall meeting to assure residents that any talk of changing the state-shared sales tax was only conversation.
However, she reported, there is legislation on the Hall tax, which is placed on people who receive income from investments such as stocks and bonds.
“I am not looking to dramatically harm the budgets of any municipalities,” she said, adding that she would not support any measure that would take money from municipalities’ budgets, including a reduction in the Hall tax.
During the last fiscal year, the town of Signal Mountain took in $901,774 from the Hall tax, officials said. The amount received varies from year to year due to the fluctuating nature of some investments. For Signal, it has varied between around $650,000 to $750,000 in the last few years. Town Manager Boyd Veal said the town doesn’t have any projections just yet for the upcoming fiscal year just yet.