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Board balks at property tax rollback

Commissioners Tommy Thompson, Grady Hawkins and Bill Lapsley.

When they passed a 5-cent tax increase in June, Henderson County commissioners said they’d be willing to look at a rollback of the tax rate if county voters approve a quarter-cent sales tax in November.
Given the chance to make that a commitment in writing, three commissioners said no — at least for now.
Despite the strong urging from commissioners Bill Lapsley and Grady Hawkins — the same two no votes on the 2016-17 budget and 5-cent tax hike that funded it — commissioners Tommy Thompson, Charlie Messer and Michael Edney voted no. The three opponents of Lapsley’s motion said they wanted to take a closer look at Lapsley’s proposed 3-cent rollback and vote on it later.
Lapsley produced an accounting that showed that the county’s new budget had added $2.5 million in new spending while passing a tax increase that would raise a projected $6.6 million. That leaves a $4 million surplus that he said should go back to taxpayers. The quarter-cent sales tax would raise an estimated $2.5 million.
“It will be extremely difficult if not impossible for this board or the staff to go before the public and ask them to approve a sales tax of $2.5 million to add on top of more than $4 this county is going to receive because of property tax,” Lapsley said. “We would have over $6 million of new revenue that is not earmarked and in my view is not needed. … “I think the tax increase this board voted for is raising substantially more funds than those items (cost).”
His motion would have committed the board to reduce the property tax rate by at least 3 cents next spring when it adopts the 2017-18 budget.
“I totally agree we need to lower it if we possibly can but I also agree we need to do more study before we totally commit ourselves,” Edney said.
County Manager Steve Wyatt pointed out that Lapsley’s chart omitted $1.28 million worth of annual debt service for a new law enforcement training center that could cost up to $15 million.
“That’s the concern I would have because the discussion was to head in that direction and the planning is under way for that,” Wyatt said.
Lapsley responded that even if $1.3 million is subtracted from the surplus, that leaves plenty of cash to cover obligations.
“Unless we tell the voters a specific number then the voters I believe will perceive it’s a false number,” he said. “They’re going to think we’re going to lower it by one tenth of one percent. I just think if we have any hope of that sales tax being approved, we’ve got to put a number in there.”