I'd love to have this county out of debt by 10 years. But at the rate we're going now, we're looking at 20 years.
With a previously announced 20-25 millage rate increase on the table, in addition to a restructured fire fee, residents packed public hearings last week to voice opinions and hear the numbers broken down.
They got more than they bargained for. At the final hearing Aug. 24, Sole Commissioner Shannon Whitfield also approved a special district tax of 0.14 percent on the market value of properties in the county, on top of the previously proposed property tax increase of roughly 2 mills.
The new special district tax, which will expire at the end of 2019, will go specifically to pay off the county’s lingering debt to Erlanger – which could have forced the county to raise its property tax rate by 7 mills.
In July, Erlanger won a summary judgment in the U.S. Court of Appeals that Walker County had to pay back what Whitfield estimated is $10 million with interest due to loans the county backed for the now-folded Hutcheson Medical Center.