Norris expects no increase in city’s property tax rate
After two City Council workshops to hash out the city’s general-fund budget for the new fiscal year beginning July 1, Norris has found that it won’t need to raise the property tax rate for 2022-23, Mayor Chris Mitchell says.
During the budget workshops, council members learned that there actually is a revenue surplus carrying over from the current budget because some of the items the council provided money for last year have yet to be completed, including repairs to the fire station roof.
“Our problem is not financial; our problem is we aren’t spending the funds and getting the work done,” Mitchell said last week. “We don’t have a revenue problem.”
The council is expected to approve the 2022-23 budget ordinance on first reading during the regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, June 13, then give it final approval during a special called meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, June 27, the council members agreed during their regular meeting on May 9.
A public hearing on the new budget has been set for 6 p.m. Friday, June 24, three days before the final vote.
For the current fiscal year, the council last June approved a $1.53 million budget, while holding the property tax rate at the previous year’s level — $1.54 per each $100 of assessed value.
Also holding the line with no increases for the new year last year were water and sewer rates.
But that could change soon, particularly the sewer rates, as the city wrestles with a multi-year, multi-million-dollar plan mandated by the state of Tennessee to fix problems associated with stormwater runoff into the city’s sanitary sewer system.
Norris currently has no debt, either in the general fund or in the Water and Sewer Commission, which has a separate budget.
Funding of the upgrades in the sewer system are expected to come from grants, new debt and increased sewer rates for customers.
Under Tennessee law, the city cannot use property taxes or water rate increases to pay for sewer improvements, the mayor said.