No changes coming to the $2.51 property tax rate for DeKalb County residents this year, as the rate remains unchanged in the new fiscal year’s budget.
County Executive Matt Adcock said the budget was very tight this year, with rising costs and unfinished projects. Adcock said he does not expect a property tax rate increase anytime soon.
“We’re trying to be courteous to our taxpayers of not doing that,” Adcock said. “Just trying to, although we have a lot of progress that needs to be done, just trying to take that slowly and grow slowly.”
Adcock said the inflation in other states with higher taxes is driving more people to move to Tennessee. He said more people come here because of what the state has to offer, but the strain is felt more from local governments.
The budget has a projected $74.2 million in total revenue. The county has appropriated some $80.49 million to cover its expenses. This leaves a $6.2 million gap to be covered by reserve funding.
Of the $17 million in general fund expenditures, some $7.1 million will be used for employee salaries. There are currently 121 full time employees and 47 part time employees. The budget includes $2.1 million for capital projects.
“Our capital projects included a lot of things we’ve done before in the past with an ambulance,” Adcock said. “We’re going to buy one new ambulance and remount one other. We have four patrol cars also included in that, as well as $600,000 for courthouse heating and cooling maintenance.”
Some $450,000 has been budgeted for the ambulances, and some $175,000 will go toward the patrol cars. $118,000 is to be spent on radios, and $250,000 will go to building construction costs.
Adcock said the state’s population increase paired with increased use of county services have contributed to the budget’s tightness this year. Adcock said local government is impacted by inflation, just like the taxpayers.
Adcock said a lot of counties seem hesitant to raise their property taxes, whereas others have increased their rate to account for growth. Adcock said reluctance to adjust the tax rates could be because of inflation.
“The Tennessean citizens are in a tough position,” Adcock said. “The economy is still not leveled out as far as the increase in the prices. The supply ans demand of things has not really smoothed out yet, so we’re seeing a lot of that impact our families.”
