County officials held a public hearing on proposed tax rates and voted to keep the real estate, tangible property, motor-vehicle and watercraft rates the same as the prior year.
The court's decision preserves the real estate rate at 7.6 (expressed in the meeting materials as 0.76 when written out), a tangible-property rate of 0.00084, and a motor-vehicle (including watercraft) rate of 0.00063. County officials said the rates remain unchanged rather than adopting the statutory "compensating" rates, which would have lowered the rate but also reduced expected revenue because assessed values increased.
County officials said the compensating-rate option would have reduced the tax rate but could yield less revenue because overall property assessments rose. The court's motion to keep the real estate rate unchanged was made from the bench and seconded by Madel Bevan; board members present voted in favor.
Why it matters: officials said assessed values rose this year, so holding the rate steady will produce more revenue than adopting a compensating reduced rate. The vote affects county revenue available for general operations and services in the coming year.
During the hearing, several magistrates asked clarifying questions about the different classifications (real estate, tangible property, motor vehicle, watercraft) and how those categories are handled separately, and staff explained the county receives separate calculations for tangible property and motor-vehicle/watercraft assessments.
The court recorded votes in the meeting: yes votes were recorded from Michael McKinney, Jason Bullock, Bo Bennett, Johnston, Bivin and others as listed during the roll call. The motions for the three main classifications (real estate, tangible property and motor-vehicle/watercraft) passed; officials noted the watercraft levy produces only about $4,000 annually in local revenue.
Officials also noted an expected gradual change in a separate state-level barrel tax referenced during the hearing; county staff said the county's net receipts from that tax stream are expected to rise for a few years as assessments increase and then decline over a longer phase-out period.
The court concluded the tax-rate agenda items and moved on to other business.