Washington County officials OK property tax increase

The Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville.
The Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County's Quorum Court on Thursday approved an increase in th property tax from 3.9 mills to 4.4 mills.

The proposed increase didn't garner enough votes to pass on a single reading but the justices of the peace approved having the ordinance read three times at Thursday's meeting and it was approved.

What’s next

Washington County’s justices of the peace failed to approve the 2019 budget on Thursday. The budget ordinance was read once and a motion to suspend the rules and read it a second time at Thursday’s meeting was defeated. The ordinance must be read at three meetings unless the rules are suspended.

Source: Staff report

Brian Lester, county attorney, said appropriation ordinances require 10 affirmative votes to be approved on a single reading. The vote on the first reading was nine in favor and four opposed, with two justice of the peace absent. Lester said with the justices of the peace approving the second and third readings, a simple majority was sufficient to approved the ordinance.

The justices of the peace began their meeting discussing a larger property tax increase. The county's property tax millage for the general fund is now at 3.9 mills. The justices of the peace were considering raising the tax to 5 mills, which is the maximum level the Quorum Court is allowed to set under state law.

Chairman Bill Ussery, justice of the peace for District 4, had presented two budget options to the Finance and Budget Committee on Tuesday, one with the millage increase and one without. Ussery said not acting to increase the millage would be "kicking the can down the road" for another Quorum Court to deal with. He said without the millage increase the reserve will be reduced to less than 5 percent of the annual budget.

Bobby Hill, treasurer, calculated the revenue from the property tax at 3.9 mills at $12,450,000. He said raising the rate to 5 mills would increase revenue to $16,420,000. Hill said a taxpayer owning property valued at $100,000 would pay $22 more per year if the rate is increased to 5 mills. Increasing the millage to 4.4 mills will cost taxpayers about $11 per year and bring in about $13.9 million in revenue.

The general fund property tax millage has been as much as 5 mills in the past, which is the highest allowed by state law without voter approval. The Quorum Court reduced the millage rate over a period of several years -- the last in 2011 from 4.4 mills to 3.9 mills.

Ussery said the millage increase was needed if the county were to pay for a step pay plan Sheriff Tim Helder has proposed for some of his deputies.

"In order to do that plan, its got to be funded," Ussery said. "We will not be able to fund that if we do not pass this here tonight."

Sue Madison, justice of the peace for District 12, opposed the proposal.

"The sudden, surprise motion to restore it to 5 mills was a shock to some of us," Madison said. "I'm bothered by the way a governmental body responsible to the people has handled a tax increase."

Justice of the Peace for District 10 Robert Dennis called out his fellow justices of the peace for their "hypocrisy" in saying the county needed to restore the millage rate after approving the most recent reduction.

I came on here four years ago," Dennis said. "JP after JP after JP said we made a mistake. We thought we had revenue. Eventually, everybody said we did the wrong thing."

Helder urged the justices of the peace to approve the increase, saying the pay problems in the Sheriff's Office have been discussed for the last 2½ years.

"We've got to get this done," Helder said. "I've talked myself blue in the face. I've shown you videos. I don't know what else to do."

NW News on 11/16/2018

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