The City of Cookeville’s upcoming fiscal year budget includes a 10-cent increase in property taxes.
Finance Director Brenda Imel said Thursday the increase would be the first for the city in nearly seven years.
“That 10 cents is restricted and going into a new fund that we want to create called the infrastructure fund,” Imel said, “specifically to handle road projects and some of the large infrastructure needs in town. The rest of the tax rate will be distributed the same as it is this year.”
City officials discussed the 2019-2020 budget during a special work session Thursday afternoon at the gas department.
Property taxes would rise to 94 cents under the proposed budget. Imel provided examples as to how the rate adjustment would impact residents under different scenarios.
“If [residents] have appraised property of $120,000, residential property is assessed at 25 percent, so the assessed value would be $30,000. At the current 84 cent rate, that taxpayer’s bill would be $252,” Imel said. “With a 10-cent increase, they would be paying about $30 more in property tax.”
The projected total revenue from property tax would be just over $8.1 million for the 2019-2020 fiscal year which begins July 1.
Approximately half of the city’s total revenue for the year is projected to be from sales tax at approximately $14 million.
