June 24, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Are your county property taxes going up? Find out tonight.
During the meeting tonight (Monday, June24) the county commission will consider establishing an overall property tax levy of $2.61 cents per $100 of assessed value to fund the proposed 2024-25 consolidated budget. That’s a 61-cent hike from the current tax levy of $2.00 per $100 of assessed value. A year ago, the rate was $1.7308 cents. The commission will also consider adopting an initial and detailed bond resolution not to exceed $65 million for the construction of a judicial center/jail.
Fifty-one cents of the proposed tax increase would go to fund debt service for a judicial center/jail while the remaining 10 cent increase would be allocated to schools to help fund the proposed new school budget which includes pay raises for certified personnel and support staff.
The county commission will also likely act on a resolution to have a public referendum on the ballot in the November election asking DeKalb County voters if they would support a $100 wheel tax for debt service to fund construction of a judicial center/jail. If approved by the voters, County Mayor Matt Adcock said funds from the wheel tax could help offset what a proposed property tax increase would generate in the meantime for debt service and allow the county to eventually scale back the size of the overall tax hike for the 2025-26 fiscal year after the wheel tax proceeds start coming in.
A public hearing on the proposed consolidated budget and property tax levy will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, June 24 prior to the monthly county commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mike Foster Multipurpose Center.
The agenda for the meeting is as follows: Call to order; invocation; pledge of allegiance; roll call; public comments; approval of agenda; approval of minutes; financial reports; budget amendments; committee reports; and new business including: appointment of DeWhite Utility District board members (James Hodges, Leslie Enoch, and Arthur Primrose); appointment of beer board members (Larry Green, Myron Rhody, Beth Pafford, Tony (Cully) Culwell, and Jeff Barnes); action on beer board policy and procedures; action on sales tax agreement; action on wheel tax referendum resolution; action on initial and detailed bond resolution; action on the nonprofit resolution; action on the appropriations resolution; action on tax levy resolution; approval of notaries; and any other business properly presented.
