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County auditor urges caution on 80% tax threshold and ranked-choice authority; residents raise ethics, proclamation concerns
Summary
County Auditor Greg Kimsey told the Charter Review Commission that an 80% supermajority requirement to raise taxes could impede the county’s ability to meet rising public defense costs and cautioned against giving unilateral ranked-choice authority to the auditor. Public commenters urged retaining symbolic proclamations and asked for independent ethics review related to recusal disputes.
County Auditor Greg Kimsey told the Charter Review Commission on March 11 that commissioners should keep problem, alternatives and unintended consequences in mind when evaluating proposed charter amendments.
During a 15-minute presentation and Q&A, Kimsey singled out several measures for caution. He said a proposed amendment that would require an 80% yes vote to raise property taxes (proposal 26-08) would make it “very unlikely” the county could reasonably raise the revenue needed to cover growing law-and-justice costs. He cited a recent court-driven forecast that public defense costs could rise from roughly $9,000,000 to approximately $25,000,000 annually,…
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