In a five-hour meeting on the night of Monday, July 8, 2019, the Smith County Commission voted for a 59 cent property tax increase, which sets the tax levy in Smith County at $2.73.
Commissioners voted on this same issue during a meeting on Monday, June 24, 2019. During that meeting, the proposed 59 cent increase failed by a vote of 11-12.
During the last meeting, commissioners appointed Dustin Dillehay to fill a vacant seat in District 8, meaning that all 24 seats on the commission are now filled.
On Monday night, the increase passed by a vote of 15-9.
A motion to set the tax levy at $2.73 was made by Terry Givens and seconded by Ron Shumake.
Commissioners voted on setting the tax levy at $2.73 as follows:
District 1 – Pleasant Shade/Defeated/Difficult
- Shannon Greene – No
- Terry Givens – Yes
- Glenn Reece – Yes
District 2 – Dixon Springs/Monoville/Tanglewood/Turkey Creek
- Billy Bass – No
- Greta Kirby – Yes
- Jason Stewart – No
District 3 – New Middleton/Brush Creek/Hickman
- James K. Winfree – Yes
- Dalton Paschal – Yes
- Daniel D. Cripps – No
District 4 – Rock City/Rome
- Erika Ebel – No
- Ron Shumake – Yes
- Shannon Minchey – Yes
District 5 – Gordonsville/Lancaster/Hickman
- Ronald G. Cowan – No
- Linda Nixon – Yes
- Colby McKinney – Yes
District 6 – Carthage
- Barbara Kannapel – Yes
- Charles Kent – Yes
- Bill Reece – No
District 7 – South Carthage
- Tommy Bane – Yes
- Joseph E. Nixon – Yes
- Dennis Hackett – Yes
District 8 – Chestnut Mound/Elmwood
- David W. Gross – No
- Frank Woodard – No
- Dustin Dillehay – Yes
Prior to the vote for the 59 cent increase, Erika Ebel made a motion to set the tax levy at $2.14, meaning it would remain the same and there would be no property tax increase. This motion was seconded by David Gross.
This motion failed by a vote of 2-22. Ebel and Gross voted in favor of the motion, and the other commissioners voted against it.
Then, a motion was made by Jason Stewart and seconded by Billy Bass to amend the 59 cent amount to 43 cents, which would set the tax levy at $2.57.
At that time, the motion made by Terry Givens to set the tax levy at $2.73 was already on the table, so commissioners voted on whether or not to amend the original motion.
The motion to amend the tax levy from $2.73 to $2.57 failed by a vote of 11-13.
Commissioners Ron Cowan, Shannon Minchey, Billy Bass, Glenn Reece, Terry Givens, Jason Stewart, Dennis Hackett, David Gross, Dustin Dillehey, Erika Ebel, and Daniel Cripps voted in favor of the amendment.
Commissioners Frank Woodard, Joseph Nixon, Bill Reece, Dalton Paschall, James Winfrey, Ron Shumake, Colby McKinney, Barbara Kannapel, Tommy Bane, Charles Kent, Linda Nixon, Gretta Kirby, Shannon Greene voted “no” on the amendment.
Prior to discussions about setting the tax levy, the full commission reviewed the budget proposal made by the Budget and Finance Committee by going through each budget individually.
During individual discussions, the commission voted to cut an additional $25,000 beyond what was included in the Budget and Finance Committee’s original proposal.
Some additions were also made, such as the increase in the County Commission budget to account for extra meetings that will be conducted. Moving forward, the commission plans to meet for workshops with the budget and finance committee during the months the commission does not meet in regular session.
Also during Monday night’s meeting, Joey Nixon brought forward a proposal for county attorney Branden Bellar to draw up two resolutions for the commission to vote on at the next meeting in September. These resolutions will concern adding referendums for a 3/4 cent sales tax and a $50 wheel tax, which, if approved by the commission, could appear on the ballot of the March 2020 primary election.
Several commissioners as well as the mayor expressed the hope that, if these taxes are passed by the people, then the property tax rate could be set lower in the future, as the property tax levy must be set by the commission every year.
The meeting was adjourned just after midnight.
You can watch the full video of the meeting below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp74R-I0Uig
Check back to Smith County Insider for continued coverage. All meetings of the Smith County Commission are streamed live at https://www.facebook.com/smithcountyinsider/.
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