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Coffee County raises severance tax to 20¢ per ton after new state law allows increase
Summary
Following a change in state law, the commission voted unanimously to raise the county’s severance tax from 15¢ to 20¢ per ton for five years; the measure requires a two‑thirds majority and was approved 16–0.
The Coffee County Board of County Commissioners voted June 24 to increase the county severance tax on extracted material to 20¢ per ton, citing new state authorization to raise the rate by 5¢ for a five‑year period.
Commissioners said the change was modest but would provide additional revenue during the county’s budget process. The measure requires a two‑thirds majority to adopt; the commission approved the increase with 16 yes votes.
A commissioner briefed the body that the state legislature, and the governor, recently authorized counties to increase the severance tax by 5¢ per ton for a five‑year period, allowing the local rate to move from 15¢ to 20¢ per ton. “Not a whole lot of money, but every little bit counts as we know, during this budget process,” the commissioner said on the floor.
Formal action: motion by Commissioner DeFord, seconded by Commissioner Hodge; the commission approved the increase to 20¢ per ton with 16 yes votes. The chair observed the change requires a two‑thirds majority and that threshold was met.
No specific revenue estimate tied to the 5¢ increase was presented during the floor discussion; commissioners said the additional funds would help cover county needs in the current budget cycle. Implementation details and effective date were not specified in the recorded remarks.
