BLOUNTVILLE – Sullivan County’s taxpayers made their final amendment today to speak publicly about a proposed nine cents increase in property tax.
The Sullivan County Commission is scheduled to convene in a meeting to potentially vote on the county’s tax rate and budget of $ 207.7 million for the fiscal year beginning Thursday.
The district budget committee unanimously decided last week to recommend the tax increase to the entire commission.
A nine-cent increase would equate to $ 33.75 on the tax bill for a home valued at $ 150,000 by Sullivan County’s real estate appraiser: $ 150,000 x 0.25 (home ownership is valued at 25%) = $ 37,500 of 100 (taxes are charged per $ 100 estimate) = 375 x 0.09 (an increase of nine cents) = $ 33.75.
Calling the proposed tax rate of $ 2.4062 (per $ 100 of estimated value) an increase may sound confusing to some people as this year’s tax rate was $ 2.57.
But this year was a year of revaluation, and because of that, the state set a certified tax rate of $ 2.3132 for Sullivan County. Everything else is a tax hike.
The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury will help you understand Tennessee property valuation. This video helps explain the Tennessee Certified Tax Rate. A certified tax rate is applied after a county goes through a revaluation. To learn more, visit: https://comptroller.tn.gov/boards/state-board-of-equalization/sboe-resources/certified-tax-rate.html
The certified tax rate is calculated to provide the local government, in this case Sullivan County, with the same income from its tax rate as the previous year.
Certified tax rates
Certified tax rates
Higher values on revaluation do not necessarily mean higher taxes. The law requires counties and cities to review property tax rates after a revaluation to ensure that higher taxable values do not automatically lead to a tax increase. Known as the Certified Tax Rate Act or “Truth In Taxation,” the law requires local governments to hold public hearings before enacting a property tax rate that incurs more taxes overall in a revaluation year than billed in the previous year were lower values. If the new tax rate does not exceed the certified rate after a revaluation, the average tax burden can even remain the same. If the value of a property has risen above average as a result of the revaluation, the taxes can be slightly higher, while if the value increase is below average, the tax burden in a revaluation year can even be lower than in the previous year.
Once a certified rate has been calculated by the assessor and chief executive of the tax jurisdiction and reviewed by the state equalization committee, it is submitted to the governing body of the jurisdiction for formal determination, usually for consideration with the budget. If the budget requires an increase above the certified rate, the Board of Directors must publish a public hearing on exceeding the certified rate and then may determine an actual tax rate after the hearing. If the certified tax rate is exceeded, the jurisdiction must send the state equalization committee an affidavit to publish the hearing notice and a certified copy of the final tax rate ordinance or decision.
Source: Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury
Sullivan County’s certified tax rate for the new fiscal year provided by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury is $ 2.3132. So the figure of $ 2.4062 is an increase of 9.3 cents.
An increase was expected. It has been publicly discussed for a year. It is required to cover the county’s debt servicing.
Breakdown of Proposed Sullivan County Property Tax Rate
How the proposed $ 2.4062 tax rate will be divided among the funds
| Funds | Tax rate 2021 | quantity | |
| General Fund | 0.7288 | $ 33,221,162 | |
| Solid Waste Fund | 0.0177 | $ 733,966 | |
| Autobahn Fund | 0.0675 | $ 2,799,024 | |
| School funds (district and cities) | 1.1716 | $ 48,582,757 | |
| Editions of the district capital | 0.0837 | $ 3,470,789 | |
| Debt Service Fund | 0.3369 | $ 13,970,238 | |
| total | 2.4062 | $ 99,777,936 | |
The proposed budget includes a 4% pay increase for the county employees, and the committee agreed to an increase to a recommendation of 5%. The money that was to be raised through all non-school accounts did not require a tax increase, but comes from savings that the county will achieve by reducing pension costs by 5%.
The county’s school system budget includes a 4% increase and $ 3.3 million to implement a teacher wage compensation plan.