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Commissioners adopt FY2024-25 budget and a tax rate read as an increase though described as a small net decrease
Summary
The Limestone County Commission opened and closed public hearings on the fiscal-year budget and tax rate, adopted the budget and a tax rate read as 0.565, and approved transfers to move a position to Road & Bridge and to fund IT/cybersecurity training; transcript contains inconsistent numeric phrasing about whether the rate increased or decreased.
Limestone County commissioners opened a public hearing on the fiscal-year budget and on the proposed tax rate for FY2024-25, heard no public comment, and moved to adopt both measures.
During budget discussion, a commissioner and staff described plans to eliminate one position in a department and transfer that position (and associated salary savings) to the Road & Bridge department. Staff said the county could advertise an additional Road & Bridge position and that roughly $50,000 in salary savings could be reallocated; staff emphasized that salary surplus funds are restricted to salary uses and revert at year-end if unspent.
The board then opened a public hearing on the tax rate and, with no public speakers, closed the hearing. The chair explained that state-required reading language compels the tax rate to be read as an increase even though the chair characterized the change as effectively a 3.2-cent decrease from last year. The transcript contains inconsistent numeric references (a proposed figure of 0.56665 was mentioned earlier; the motion recorded the rate as 0.565 and also referenced a 3.12 or 3.10 percent change), and the board did not provide a roll-call tally in the record provided.
The commission also considered and approved a set of budget transfers, including transfer 682 for Road & Bridge and an IT transfer to fund cybersecurity training. Staff indicated they planned to schedule a few weeks of training and moved the funding via the transfers. Motions to approve these transfers were made and seconded and recorded by voice vote in the transcript; individual vote tallies were not included in the meeting text provided.
The transcript does not include the full written budget document, precise vote counts, or a clear single numeric statement reconciling the different tax-rate numbers mentioned on the record. The board recorded motions and voice votes to adopt the budget, adopt the tax rate as read, and approve the listed transfers.
