WHAT IT MEANS
Bledsoe County’s new property tax rate of $2.3860 per $100 of assessed value means the annual tax bill on a $100,000 home will now be $596.50. Before the 18-cent rate increase, that annual tax bill was $551.50, or $45 less per year.
Commissioners in Bledsoe County, Tennessee, last week approved their second shortfall budget for the coming fiscal year, but this one includes an 18-cent property tax increase.
Commissioners hope that some revenues will increase over the next year to cover the gap.
On Aug. 6 in a reconvened meeting, Bledsoe commissioners approved a budget resolution in an 8-4-1 vote that includes the 18-cent property tax hike but still has about $167,000 more spending than revenue. That move follows Bledsoe County Mayor Gregg Ridley’s July veto of a $500,000-plus shortfall budget after the county commission shot down a proposed 18-cent property tax hike, then adopted the budget that still contained the additional spending.
“We’ll probably do OK with 18 cents. If we don’t, next year we can pick it up, and it won’t be as bad a tax increase if we have to do another one next year,” commission chairman Craig Mercer said Tuesday.