Lower values lead to higher taxes in Macon

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Lower values lead to higher taxes in Macon

taxes Macon County property taxes will be going up next year as the value of property values has decreased by almost $2 billion.

Macon County completed a reappraisal of its 44,000 parcels of real property in 2014, which is the first time one has been done since 2007 — just before the recession hit. As expected, the county experienced a dramatic decline in property values since that time, and that reflected in this year’s budgeted revenue.

Last year’s tax base was $9.5 billion but this year’s reappraised tax base is $7.6 billion. Lower property values mean less property tax revenue for the county. With less revenue coming in, the county has to increase the tax rate to reach a revenue-neutral budget.

County Manager Derek Roland presented the commissioners with a revenue-neutral budget last week as promised. The proposed budget for 2015-16 is $46.6 million — a 2.5 percent increase over last year’s budget. The tax rate will increase from about 28 cents per $100 of assessed value to 35 cents per $100 of assessed value.

While lower property values are unfortunate news for the county, Roland said the county could expect to see a significant increase in sales tax revenue this year. He said overall the state was projecting a 13-percent increase in sales tax revenue, and Macon County could see as much as a 7-percent increase over last year. Because of legislation still moving through the General Assembly that could change how sales tax revenue is divided among the counties, Roland said it was important to budget conservatively. He only budgeted $6.7 million — a 3-percent increase — in sales tax revenue just to be on the safe side. If the bill passes and the distribution formula is based on population, Macon County could lose $1 million a year.

“We’re not tying operational expenses on something that can be taken away in years to come,” Roland said.

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Roland told commissioners he was very pleased with what this year’s proposed budget accomplishes without dipping into the county’s reserve funds.

Health insurance

Commissioners recently approved changes to its health insurance plan to avoid a deficit in the health insurance fund, including switching providers. Employees will see a reduction in coverage and an increase in contributions while the county will cut its health costs in the long run.

The county will save $700,000 over what it would have paid under its previous plan. Still, Macon’s bill for employee health insurance will rise $529,000 for the 2015-16 fiscal year to $3.8 million.

Parker Meadows project

While it has cost more than expected, commissioners are excited to finally be nearing completion of the Parker Meadows Recreational Complex. The grand opening is expected to be Aug. 1.

The $3.3 million project was funded using $1.8 million that was financed over 10 years, $1 million from the county’s fund balance and a $500,000 state recreation grant. The complex includes eight lighted ball fields, walking trails, picnic areas and playgrounds.

macon fiscal

Education

Roland said education is one of the county’s top priorities and accounts for about 20 percent of the budget.

Macon County Schools will receive $7.3 million for operational costs and $300,000 for capital outlay expenses. Operational costs are unchanged from last year even though the school requested about $7.8 million, but the county increased the capital outlay by $101,000. The county also has applied for $3 million in interest-free bonds to pay for improvements at Union Academy and Highlands School.

Macon County is also budgeting $280,463 for Southwestern Community College, which is a $10,000 increase from last year. Roland said the increase would cover a $5,000 increase to the college’s HVAC maintenance contract as well as a reimbursement for maintenance done at the Macon campus by Jackson campus staff.

Other recommendations

Roland also recommended a 2-percent cost of living pay increase for all 400-plus county employees. The increase would cost $353,726.

With more than 33,000 calls being taken annually by Macon County emergency dispatchers, Roland recommended increasing the 911 dispatcher staff from two to four fulltime employees.

The sheriff’s department had to spend quite a bit of staff time and money in the last year transporting patients with mental health issues to the hospital and staying with them during evaluation.

Roland said Mission Health has agreed to take over oversight of those patients, which frees up funding for the sheriff’s office — particularly the detention center officers. That additional money — about $196,000 — will be used to make four part-time detention officers into full-time employees.

Technology is also a major priority this year. After putting off needed upgrades for three years, Roland said it was time to finally bite the bullet and replace the county’s phone system, data storage system and make security upgrades. The technology budget will increase by $392,678 to complete all of those tasks. The county’s phone system is 18 years old and the county has experienced many difficulties with it lately. Roland said there was a one-month period where the county’s voicemail system wasn’t working at all.

Commissioners held a budget workshop to discuss the proposed budget Tuesday, May 26, and will plan other workshops and a public hearing before the budget has to be approved by July 1.