At Franklin Tomorrow’s Breakfast with the Mayors talk on April 28, Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson said property taxes will not increase as a result of the economic impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the local government.
“Is there any property tax increase? The answer is no,” Anderson said in response to a question submitted to the Franklin Tomorrow live stream. “We have had several budget committee meetings ... and the direction we have gone in is to save all the workers and pull back our horns to last year’s numbers.”
Anderson said he thinks the economic health of Williamson County will come back and improve after mandates and shutdowns to control the spread of the virus are lifted.
“I think our economy will spring back like we did in [2007], like we did in [2002] and [2003],” Anderson said. “It’ll take a while for us to get there, but I’m confident we will get back there.”
The new fiscal year for the county government begins at the start of July, and Anderson said the budget for the Williamson County government would not be as heavily impacted by the loss of sales tax revenue as other municipalities because it relied more on property taxes. To compare, Metro Nashville officials announced March 31 that residents can expect a "sharp increase" in property taxes. Metro Nashville Mayor John Cooper will present his budget proposal April 28.
“We’re planning on going forward with this year’s budget on last year’s budget with some modifications,” Anderson said. “We’ve asked our elected and appointed officials and department heads to move money around, but [said they] can’t have any extra this year. I’m confident we’ll make those numbers work with no property tax increase.”