What you need to know
City Council approved the proposed voter-approval rate of $0.4043 per $100 valuation for consideration during the Aug. 7 council meeting. The voter-approval rate is the highest rate a taxing entity can set without needing an election.
While council members spoke in favor of approving the no-new-revenue rate for the city, which would generate the same amount of revenue as fiscal year 2022-23, City Manager Heather Neeley informed council that the best option would be to propose the voter-approval rate. The higher rate would allow flexibility in the event of lower property tax revenue collection, and the council can still pick a lower tax rate at the hearing, she said.
Oak Ridge North in 2022 approved a FY 2022-23 tax rate of $0.4248 per $100 valuation.
Two public hearings have been scheduled for Aug. 21 and Aug. 28.
The details
Neeley said the rates council could choose from were:
- No-new-revenue tax rate: $0.4043 per $100 valuation
- Voter-approval rate: $0.4268 per $100 valuation
Despite being called the voter-approval rate, an election is not required if that rate is adopted. If a tax rate higher than the voter-approval rate is selected, then an election could be possible.
What they’re saying
“I don’t particularly care to raise taxes just to cover any potential shortfall; we can’t do that,” Council Member Alex Jones said.
“You can always go down; you cannot go higher,” Neeley said. “So if anything changes between now and Aug. 28, when we approve everything, we cannot go any higher than [the voter-approval rate].”