Following the lead of the White County Board of Commissioners and White County Board of Education, the Cleveland City Council voted against a millage rate increase. The council, instead, reversed course and voted 3 to 1 for a full rollback on this fiscal year’s millage rate.
The council had proposed a partial rollback. Before the vote, city administrator Kevin Harris told the council, “I’m comfortable and confident to say that we would be able to take the full rollback.” Harris based his decision on recent positive Local Option Sales Tax revenues.
In a presentation to the council, Harris also addressed the tangible impact a full rollback would have on hardworking Cleveland residents, many of whom are already having to pay more in property taxes due to reassessments.
Cleveland City Council member Nan Bowen cast the lone dissenting vote.
“Our economy is becoming unstable and that is where my concerns lie,” she said.
Bowen said that in her view, a partial rollback combined with an aggressive effort to grow Cleveland’s revenue base would have been “the better option.”
Speaking out
The council voted during a called meeting after its third and final public hearing on the millage rate Tuesday night.
Cleveland resident Tedi Boling spoke out against a partial rollback at all three public hearings. She and her husband Dana urged the council to implement the full rollback.
Boling said she’s not sure if her efforts changed council members’ minds, but she was encouraged to see a few more people show up at the final public hearing, although they didn’t speak publicly.
“People need to come and say things, you need to know what is going on in your community,” Boling said. “You don’t know if you’re not there to hear and you need to hear it from the people who are saying it.”
County and BOE millage rates
Also Tuesday night, the White County Board of Commissioners gave final approval to the school board’s millage rate and its own. The county’s millage rate is 9.505 and the Board of Education’s millage rate is 14.222. Both governing bodies based their rates on a full rollback for a combined total millage rate of 23.727.
White County’s FY 2023 approved budget totaled $25.1 million. Property taxes will generate $11.1 million in county funding and $16.9 million for schools.
