The Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to raise the town’s property tax rate by 20 cents.
Board members approved the rate on first reading Monday night during their regularly scheduled semi-monthly meeting.
If passed on third and final reading the rate will be $1.83 per $100 of assessed value.
Two losses in revenue caused the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to begin the 2018-19 budget process looking for ways to make up $2 million dollars in revenue.
One source of revenue decline is from local option sales tax. Revenue from the local option sales tax has been trending flat and recently declining.
The second loss is related to the Tennessee Hall Income Tax. The state is eliminating the tax on earned income from investments, which equates to about $1.5 million dollars annually as revenue for the town’s budget.
Mayor Stan Joyner addressed the revenue loss back in March.
“In January we started our budget work sessions for the FY 2018-19 budget and these losses in revenue create some significant challenges to balancing the budget,” said Joyner. “As we continue to work through this process the Board and staff will work together and examine every available option to make up this loss in revenue in an effort to avoid a property tax increase, which if needed in the future will be an absolute last resort.”
Other town news:
- Board members approved a contract for the installation of new brick pavers at four crosswalks around the Historic Town Square.
The square was renovated in the early 1990’s and brick paver crosswalks were installed at various locations around the Square.
Over time, the pavers began to fail due to sub-grade issues. In 2008, the town repaired the crosswalks on Mulberry Street with the remaining crosswalks to be repaired over time.
The project consists of brick paver removal, restoration of sub-grade, installation of new concrete foundation, and new heavy brick pavers, installation of pavers in the sidewalk, and traffic control.
- Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Collierville, posted a message on Twitter Monday afternoon stating that he plans to introduce legislation that would allow sports betting in Tennessee.
On May 14, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that state legislatures will now have authority over sports betting. The 26-year-old Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act previously prohibited sports betting in all states except Nevada.
Kelsey wrote, “Based on your comments today, I plan to introduce legislation to allow sports betting in TN with the tax proceeds to go to K-12 education. It appears this will not require a constitutional amendment, but the legislative attorneys are still researching it.”
