City proposing 4 percent tax rate increase

The Graham City Council made progress on the budget and tax rate during their budget hearing last Thursday, setting a proposed tax rate of $0.676981 per $100 valuation or a raise of approximately 4% over the effective rate of $0.650943 per $100 valuation.

The effective tax rate for this year is lower than last year’s rate of $0.6527 per $100 valuation. The effective rate is the total tax rate needed to raise the same amount of property tax revenue from the same properties in both the 2018 and 2019 tax year.

The rollback tax rate for the city is $0.825233 per $100 valuation. The rollback tax rate is the highest tax rate the city may adopt before voters can petition for an election to limit the rate to the rollback rate.

For a home valued at $75,000, the tax rate would increase from $489.53, under the current tax rate, to $507.74 (a difference of $18.21). For a home valued at $150,000, the tax rate would increase from $979.05, under the current tax rate, to $1,015.47 (a difference of $36.42). For a home valued at $225,000, the tax rate would increase from $1,468.58, under the current tax rate, to $1,523.21 (a difference of $54.63).

The proposed budget presented by City Manager Brandon Anderson was $50,052 in the red, so the council spoke about a potential raise in taxes to balance the budget accordingly. The city distributed a handout at the meeting with the figure regarding a potential 2.5 percent increase to a tax rate of 0.6672166 per $100 valuation which would raise $52,551.82 and balance the budget.

For a home valued at $75,000, the tax rate would increase from $489.53 under the current tax rate to $500.41 (a difference of $10.89). For a home valued at $150,000, the tax rate would increase from $979.05 under the current tax rate to $1,000.82 (a difference of $21.77). For a home valued at $225,000, the tax rate would increase from $1,468.58 under the current tax rate to $1,501.24 (a difference of $32.66).

The proposed budget is set at $8,550,935 without capital expenditures for total revenues, an over $1 million decrease from last year’s budget set at $9,571,400. A total of $166,300 worth of capital expenditures are being proposed by the city which include computers for city administration, municipal court and the police department, new body cameras, a new pickup truck for animal control, a mulcher to clean the alleys, an airport fuel truck and new breathing equipment for the fire department.

“We would borrow the money for these capital purchases, so those figures would be a wash if we were add any capital expenditures to the budget,” Anderson said.

The first tax hearing at the Conventions and Visitors Bureau and Graham Chamber of Commerce meeting room will be held at 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 5. The second hearing will be held at the same location at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10.

For the rest of the story, see the Wednesday, Aug. 21 edition of The Graham Leader.