Mills County commissioners approve proposed 2025 tax rate after 3-2 vote

The Mills County Commissioners Court approved a proposed tax rate for 2025 following discussion of the county’s budget outlook and prior-year revenue performance. Commissioner Williams moved to approve the proposed tax rate and Commissioner Head seconded; the motion passed on a 3–2 vote.

Commissioners and county staff discussed the county’s historical tendency to outperform budgets. Commissioner Williams and staff noted a historical eight-year average in which actual collections exceeded proposed budgets by about $650,000, a figure they said could reduce the need to draw on fund reserves under certain scenarios. Charles Miles, a staff member who presented the tax figures to the court, provided the printed proposed-rate information to the commissioners and said the figures would be published in the local paper.

Miles read numeric line items included in the proposal during the meeting. The transcript records figures phrased as “I S 5.42, Road And Bridge 10.21, General 44.98,” followed by references to a combined total. The transcript language around the exact combined total was garbled in places; the court treated the printed figures as the proposed rate to publish and set for public notice.

Commissioners emphasized that the vote approved a proposed tax rate for publication and public hearing, not a final adopted rate. Commissioner Williams framed the action as setting the proposed rate and instructed staff to confirm publication steps. The court scheduled the required public hearing and additional budget actions for upcoming meetings.

The court recorded three votes in favor and two against; specific individual vote names for the no votes were not stated on the record in the transcript excerpt.

Looking ahead, the court signaled it will hold the public hearing on the county budget and tax rate as required by law and revisit final adoption in a subsequent meeting.