Clarkdale adopts $48.08 million budget, sets primary levy at 0.13981 after public objections

Clarkdale’s Town Council voted unanimously on June 23 to adopt the town’s final fiscal year 2026–27 budget totaling $48,079,590 and to set a primary property tax levy of 0.13981 per $100 of assessed valuation, a move that the finance director said will increase Clarkdale’s expected levy receipts by $60,903.

The vote followed a public hearing in which multiple residents submitted written objections and several spoke in person, urging the council to hold a recent fiber-optic contractor accountable for street and landscaping damage rather than raising taxes. “I cannot support higher taxes when the town allows third-party contractors to damage our neighborhoods without accountability,” one written comment read; resident Ron Kinner told council he “strongly oppose[d]” the increase and repeated concerns about unpaved holes and trip hazards left after installation work.

Finance Director Brittany Earls framed the levy decision as part of a multi-month, zero-based budgeting process. Earls said the recommendation to raise the town’s levy receipts from about $728,000 to $800,000 reflected lower revenues from other sources — including the loss of a sales tax on long-term rentals, a slowdown in taxable construction, and reductions in state-shared revenue — and higher base operating costs. Earls summarized the local impact as an increase of $10.79 per $100,000 of net assessed value for a sample historic Main Street property and $28.66 for a median Mountain Gate property under the proposed change.

Mayor Prudon Bowers and councilmembers emphasized the limited share of a homeowner’s tax bill that Clarkdale actually receives. Earls noted Clarkdale typically receives roughly 11% of a property owner’s total property tax bill; fire, county and school districts receive larger shares. Councilmember Marni acknowledged the political difficulty of raising taxes but said she could not identify spending cuts that would avoid harming essential services such as police coverage, streets and parks: “I don’t take raising taxes lightly. This is a big decision,” she said.

After the hearing, council approved Resolution 1762 (the intent to levy primary property taxes at 0.13981) by roll call, and later convened a special meeting to adopt the final budget. Resolution 1763, adopting the fiscal year 2026–27 budget at $48,079,590 (with $20,726,257 projected from grants), passed on a unanimous roll-call vote. The council approved both measures with all five members voting yes.

The mayor told residents the budget is zero-based and that staff and council will continue to pursue grants and commercial growth to reduce future pressure on property taxes. The council also encouraged public participation in the budget process, noting line-by-line budget reviews are open to the public and that the new fiscal year begins July 1. Under state law, the adopted budget cannot be amended after adoption and will guide operations for the year.

Next steps: the town will begin tracking the new fiscal year on July 1 and proceed with planned capital projects and operations as outlined in the adopted budget. Residents who opposed the levy urged the council to prioritize contractor accountability and neighborhood repairs; council members said staff would follow up on the fiber-optic installation issues raised during the hearing.