Monroe County Commissioners approved by a 3-1 vote via e-mail on Wednesday, Aug. 3 to set the county’s tentative 2022 millage rate at 12.63 mills, a .17-mill reduction from 2021.
At the recommendation of Monroe County Finance Officer Lorri Robinson, Commissioners agreed to set the tentative 2022 millage rate at the rollback rate to be cautious because Commissioners cannot raise the millage rate any higher than the tentative millage that is advertised when it sets its final millage. Commission Chairman Greg Tapley, District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland, and District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose all voted yes to Robinson’s recommendation while District 4 Commissioner George Emami voted no. District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis did not weigh in on the e-mail recommendation.
Because Commissioners set a millage at or below the rollback rate, the county is only required to hold one public hearing on the 2022 millage. That public hearing will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18. A final millage rate is expected to be set at the conclusion of the Aug. 18 public hearing. By law, Commissioners can still lower the 2022 millage, but they cannot set a final millage amount any higher than the approved tentative millage of 12.63 mills.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Monroe County has either maintained the same millage rate or lowered the millage rate.
According to 2022 Monroe County tax digest projections, 12.63 mills will generate $21,262,006 in property tax revenue, which is up $1,452,833 from the $19,809,173 generated at a millage rate of 12.8 mills in 2021.
Under the current projected millage, a Monroe County homeowner with a home valued at $250,000 and a Homestead Exemption would pay $1,111 in county property taxes for 2022, a reduction of $15 from the $1,126 the same homeowner paid in 2021. The only way that a homeowner would pay more in property taxes in 2022 than he/she did in 2021 is if the homeowner’s valuation has risen due to reassessment.
The move to set the millage rate at the rollback amount came less than 24 hours after Monroe County Commissioners initially approved by general consensus on Tuesday, Aug. 2 to set the county’s tentative 2022 millage rate at 12.05 mills, a three-quarter mill reduction from 2021.
County Manager Jim Hedges said there was considerable growth in the county’s tax digest in 2022 in addition to revaluations. He said if Commissioners didn’t roll back taxes and maintained the same millage rate as in 2021, 12.8 mills, the county would have seen an additional revenue increase of $284,503.
Therefore, County Manager Hedges presented five options on Tuesday for the county’s 2022 millage rate. 1.) Roll back the millage rate to 12.63 mills. 2.) Reduce the millage rate by a half mill to 12.3 mills. 3.) Reduce the millage rate by three-quarter mills to 12.05 mills. 4.) Reduce the millage rate by one mill to 11.8 mills. 5.) Reduce the millage rate by one and one-quarter mills to 11.55 mills.
County Manager Hedges said at the rollback millage of 12.63 mills, Monroe County would have just over $2.3 million in contingency for 2022 but that figure would diminish with each further millage rate reduction.
County Manager Hedges said given the unknown cost of health insurance, workers’ compensation, and funding for Monroe County Hospital for 2023, he recommended reducing the county’s millage by three-quarter mills for 2022 to a total of 12.05 mills. At a rate of 12.05 mills, Monroe County would have just under $1.4 million in contingency for 2022.
Commissioner Emami said even though the millage rate in 2021 was lowered by nearly four-tenths of a mill, his own property taxes still increased by about $900 and said some constituents saw their tax bills rise by more than 10 percent. Therefore, Commissioner Emami said he doesn’t want the 2022 county budget to increase by even a single dollar from the final budget in 2021.
“I don’t speak for just myself,” Commissioner Emami said. “I want y’all to know that. There’s a lot of people that feel the way that I do, and they are tired of bearing more than their share of the weight to carry the expenses of this county.”
However, Commissioner Ambrose and Chairman Tapley disagreed with Commissioner Emami’s assessment of Monroe County’s budget, saying that Monroe County’s service needs have increased through the years with additional population and increased traffic on I-75. Commissioner Davis added that product costs are constantly rising due to inflation as well.
After about 30 minutes of discussion, Commissioners agreed by general consensus on Tuesday to set the 2022 millage rate at 12.05 mills, a three-quarter mill reduction from 2021. However, Commissioners decided on Wednesday to set the tentative millage rate at 12.63 mills instead with the option to reduce it on Aug. 18 when a final vote is taken.
