Commissioners Agree on 12¢ Reduction in Tax Rate

We've already told you, but we'll say it again: your property tax bill is going up. This time, it's not being presented in an editorial (as we presented the information, which wasn't really an opinion, just a realization of necessity) but as a news article; because this time the increase in property taxes is made even more certain by actions of the Lincoln County Commissioners at a budget session on Friday (April 14th).

Commissioners eventually settled on a property tax rate of 49.9 cents per hundred dollars valuation, down by 12 cents from 2022's 61.9 cents. That's about a 20% reduction in the tax rate--but county-wide, the revaluation of properties averaged about 65%. It was obviously more in some areas than others, but almost all properties saw a significant increase in value from four years ago.

To maintain a 'revenue neutral' budget, the rate would have had to drop to 43.5 cents, but even Commission Chair Carrol Mitchem realizing the impossibility of maintaining County services at that rate, proposed a rate in the mid-40s. Commissioners Cathy Davis and Jamie Lineberger favored a rate of just over 50 cents, but a compromise cut the final figure (for now) to 49.9.
[The rate won't become law until a public hearing is held on the budget in June and Commissioners take final action after that.]

Members of the Lincoln County Board of Education held a special meeting in joint session with the Commissioners on Friday.  This reporter was unable to attend and had to rely on getting information from the meeting second-hand.  I erroneously reported that the Schools  got the nearly $9 million increase in the schools' budget they had requested.  They did get an increase from what they got in fiscal 2023--but it comes with a condition: Commissioners made it clear that unlike each of the last three years, they would not approve additional money during the fiscal year.

In addition to the basic County taxes, most residents will pay either a city tax (Lincolnton residents only) or a fire district tax. Two of the county fire departments agreed to cut their initial request, but none will have a reduced rate for 2022-2024.

In addition to paying more in taxes, County residents will pay more for solid waste disposal. It had already been decided at a March budget session that the solid waste fee will increase from $115 to $120.

As it stands now, the County budget for fiscal 2024 will require spending about $200,000 from the County's Fund Balance. That, of course, depends on what happens with the economy. Sales tax revenues are expected to grow--but unlike during the previous year only slightly.

County Manager Davin Madden says that while he's pleased that most of the work on the budget it now complete, there is still some 'fine tuning' to be done. Madden said he will present his final budget proposal, based on the budget sessions, at the Commissioners' meeting on May 15th. It will then be posted on the County website and a public hearing on the budget will be held at the June 5th meeting.

Lincoln isn't alone--all the other area counties (and most, if not all, statewide) will have an increase in their property taxes this year. Federal monies that were provided in response to the COVID pandemic are waning, and local governments are also having to deal with inflation. While tax rates are likely to be reduced, the revaluations produced new values that are much higher percentages than the likely rate reductions.