IT'S YOUR MONEY
“Collecting more taxes than is
absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.”
~ Calvin Coolidge
Did you know that Franklin County is poised to spend $41 million in the upcoming year? At that rate, the county spends $78.32 every minute or nearly $800,000 per week.
To pay for all that, Franklin County commissioners want to increase the tax rate by 12% for the coming year. The tax rate, also known as the millage rate, is the amount per $1,000 that is used to calculate property taxes. The county is proposing $4.98 of tax on every $1,000 of taxable property. For example, the owner of a $150,000 property with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay $498 in county taxes under the proposed budget, up $53 from the current year. Look at the five year history here.
If approved, this would mark the county’s third consecutive year of raising millage rates and a 50% increase in the tax rate since 2008-09. Property values have plummeted during the real estate crash and recession, and this smaller tax base means less money for local government, but the solution ISN’T higher taxes.
Let’s tell county commissioners NO to a big millage rate increase at two budget hearings: Sept. 6 & 19, 5:15 p.m., at the Courthouse Annex in Apalachicola.
Times are tough for everyone in this economy. We all have had to tighten our belts and watch how we spend our household budgets. We want county commissioners to do the same.
Can the county deliver the same services at a lower cost? Is our county spending in line with what other counties spend? See our analysis of the Sheriff's Department here. Are there services that would be better left to the private sector? Are there other sources of revenue besides charging taxpayers more? Should county commissioners be doing more to grow the tax base?
We urge commissioners to continue asking these important questions and to be more forward-thinking instead of sticking with the status quo.
We want your help and ideas. What are your suggestions for cutting county spending while keeping Franklin County the place we all love?
Remember, we’re all in the same boat, and it’s our hard-earned tax dollars that are being spent.