Brown County Commissioners Court recently held public hearings on the proposed tax rate of $0.6093/$100 valuation during regular meetings of the court.   This is an increase of $0.03 per $100 valuation from last year’s property tax rate. Another public hearing is set for 9:00 a.m. September 21, 2016, and commissioners will set a date to adopt the proposed $19,433,400 FY 2016/2017 budget, including the proposed tax rate.

Brown County’s proposed FY 2016/2017 budget will raise more taxes than last year’s budget by an amount of $1,012,151, which is a 4.64% increase from last year’s budget.  The property tax to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year is $227,929.51, according to Brown County officials.

This increased proposed tax rate will fund operating supplies, additional personnel, equipment, salaries and increased debt service, according to officials.

Proposed tax rates for break down as follows:

Proposed Property tax rate:  $0.6093 per $100 valuation
Preceding Year’s tax rate:  $0.5955 per $100 valuation
Effective tax rate:  $0.5823 per $100 valuation
Rollback tax rate:  $0.6398

Total debt obligation for Brown County secured by property taxes is $10,070,000.  Of this debt, much is contributed to the McKinstry Project.  Commissioners approved the $5.799 million McKinstry Energy Savings Performance Contract in July of 2015.  The project had a purpose of improving several county buildings, including the courthouse, juvenile justice center and the agricultural extension office. The court later approved a second phase of the project, a $1.25 million bid for the construction of a new elections/treasurer’s building in October 2015.  This building, a 4000 sq. ft. energy efficient structure, is currently under construction at the site of the previous Daniell building, which had been located in the 600 block of North Fisk Avenue.