The Cumberland County Commission will have a special called meeting Monday evening to vote on the County Budget and it includes a property tax increase. The tax hike is ten cents which will bring the property tax to $1.59 per hundred in the county. If passed, it will be the first increase in property tax since 2011.  The February Ice Storm took a big chunk out of the County’s savings to the tune of about $1million and has been credited with part of the reason for the tax hike along with expenditures for the communication system and pay raises.  Cumberland County has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and some say they want to keep it that way.  Other citizens have said because the tax rate is so low, the County needs to generate more money to be properly funded.  No matter how citizens feel about the tax vote, they will be able to voice their opinion to the Commission before the vote Monday evening. Public comment time is set for 5:30pm Monday in the large courtroom on the 3rd floor of the Courthouse.   The tax and budget vote is first on the agenda of the official start of the County Commission meeting at 6pm.  The remaining items on the agenda pretty much depend on the passing of the budget so if the Commission  doesn’t pass it the meeting may be a short one.

One of the later items is a resolution for giving County General Fund employees an across the board $2,400 pay raise.  There’s also a resolution up for vote that approves raises for the Sheriff’s Department as submitted by Sheriff Casey Cox.  The BOE budget is part of the budget to be voted on as well which includes a one-time payment of $459,000 to the school system from the County for books and a new roof at North Cumberland Elementary School. There is also a resolution dealing with health insurance benefits for retiring county employees with 30 years of service to the county. When coupled with the recent Crossville  20 per cent property tax increase, citizens who own property in the City and County will be looking at a combined  27 per cent tax increase this year if the tax levy passes the County Monday night.  The City has approximately $8 million in savings that could have been used to help offset the City budget deficit.  The County has a little more than $4 million in the fund balance.