No property tax increase planned for Whitfield County

Published 7:45 pm Monday, October 13, 2008

The good news: The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners does not plan a property tax increase for 2008.

The bad news: Slumping revenues will force county departments to “tighten their belts” throughout the rest of the year and well into 2009.

The board of commissioners voted 4-0 Monday night to roll back the property tax rate, or millage rate, which is the amount of tax paid per $1,000 of assessed property value. Chairman Brian Anderson, who only votes to break ties, said he supports the property tax rollback. The rollback, from 5.242 mills to 5.061 mills, has to be advertised for 14 days before it can take effect.

With no property tax rate rollback, the county would expect to collect $16.86 million in property taxes. The county has budgeted for $16.3 million for 2008, so that would have given the county about $556,000 in additional taxes. With a property tax rate rollback, the county expects to collect $16.28 million. In 2007, the county collected $16.63 million in property taxes.

If the board did not roll back the property tax rate, the owner of a $132,000 home would see an increase of about $6 in taxes.

Commissioner Randy Waskul pointed to several floorcovering companies eliminating jobs and cutting back production as a reason for not increasing property taxes. He said a rollback is the “prudent thing to do.” He did caution the county’s elected officials and department heads in attendance to budget conservatively for 2009.

“This is going to be a hard pill to swallow,” Waskul said.

County finance officer Ron Hale presented commissioners a “worst case” budget scenario for the remaining 79 days of the year. Because of expected decreased sales tax revenue collections, the county could have a $3.4 million revenue shortfall. The county would in turn not spend $1.8 million, mostly in capital projects, meaning about $1.5 million would be drawn from the county’s reserve funds.

County officials are currently putting together the 2009 budget. The county’s 2008 budget is $46.55 million. The budget was $42.7 million in 2007.

One commissioner asked for an across the board cut.

“It seems reasonable enough to me that with the whole economy, the people that are working have had to cut back,” said commissioner Leo Whaley, who is not seeking re-election. “I think it would be fair to ask all of our departments to cut back 7.5 percent.”

Harold Brooker, who is running unopposed in November for Whaley’s seat, said commissioners need “to start at home” when considering spending cuts. He suggested freezing the 2008 budget for 2009 and asking all departments to cut spending by 10 percent.

“We’ve never seen this critical a time,” Brooker said.

Anderson, the commission chairman, said some of the county’s capital projects may be put on the backburner. This year, the county tried to catch up on some projects — such as recreation improvements and vehicle purchases — that had been lacking in the past, he said.

In other business, commissioners voted 4-0 to:

• Pass the county’s updated Emergency Operations Plan, which was recently approved by the state.

• Replace six Kenwood base station radios at the 911 center for $10,375.

• Transfer a malt beverage license for Harper’s General Store and Deli at 1700 Lafayette Highway to Purvi Patel.