Blount County committee advances $256.6 million budget, holds property tax rate at $1.59

At a Blount County Budget Committee meeting, members voted unanimously to send the recommended fiscal 2025–26 tax rate, appropriation resolution and capital outlay priorities to the full county commission for review, while approving several targeted budget increases for schools and county facilities.

The committee voted to send a tax-rate resolution that keeps the county's property tax rate at $1.59 per $100 of assessed value. "This tax rate resolution is presented with no property tax increase. It is still at a dollar 59, this, same as last year," said Brian Baldwin, Blount County finance director. The committee also approved a $2,185,501.60 appropriation for new K–12 science textbooks and a $35,808 general services capital appropriation for painting stairwells at the Blount County Justice Center; each measure was moved to the commission workshop for further consideration.

Why it matters: the committee's actions set the recommended allocation of local revenues and program priorities that the full commission will consider. Baldwin said the proposed budget relies on continued "natural growth" in property and sales tax revenues rather than a property tax increase; he also warned that spending of federal ARPA funds is reducing investment returns available to the county.

Revenue and major drivers: Baldwin told the committee the county is proposing no property tax increase and is using the trustee and property assessor's updated value for the "penny" (the revenue value of one cent of the tax rate), which rose from…