East Ridge council adopts revenue-neutral tax rate, approves $27.8M budget, raises sanitation fee; awards road and parks bids

The East Ridge City Council on June 22, 2025 set the city’s certified property tax rate at 0.7993 per $100 of assessed valuation, adopted the fiscal year 2025–26 operating budget of $27,827,365 and approved a $2 per month increase to the city’s sanitation assessment. The council also accepted a $45‑per‑ton bid for masonry sand to top dress athletic fields at Camp Jordan and awarded a $750,016.13 resurfacing contract for John Ross Road to APAC Atlantic, doing business as Talley Construction.

City Manager David Miller said the tax‑rate change follows a February 2025 reassessment that raised total assessed value for the city from $554,000,000 to $866,000,000. “Whenever the assessments increase, then we have to… decrease the millage the tax rate to be revenue neutral,” Miller said, explaining the proposed 0.7993 rate will generate about $6,788,564 in property taxes — roughly the same revenue as last year.

Miller also summarized highlights of the adopted budget, which proposes a 3% cost‑of‑living adjustment for all employees, adds two firefighters effective Jan. 1, 2026, converts two part‑time park attendant positions into one…