Tax relief requests rebuffed

County rate unchanged

Friday, June 9, 2006

At a public hearing on the budget last month, several homeowners asked the county to consider lowering the property tax rate, currently $.892 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Though the public asked for tax relief, possibly a constant yield tax rate that would slightly reduce the tax rate to keep their bills approximately even with last year’s levels and provide level revenues for the county, the commissioners warned new expenses loomed.

‘‘We’ve certainly gotten some communication from the public on the tax rates,” Commissioner Susan Shaw (R) said. ‘‘Unfortunately, this is a time period the [Government] Accounting Standards Board has changed how we have to calculate post-employment benefits on the bottom line of our budget.”

New accounting standards mean the county has to begin saving money now in anticipation of paying out retiree benefits, particularly health care, for baby boomers who will be retiring in huge numbers. The county now has to set aside $2.7 million a year for the benefits, up from the $500,000 it had been allotting each year.

‘‘The problem is we don’t know what that number will be for the board of education,” Shaw said. ‘‘... We don’t know what that figure is going to be, but it’s going to be large.”

The board of education, which is largely funded by the county and employs twice as many people, is conducting its own review to determine how much more it will have to set aside as well.

Though property and income tax rates will remain level, the county has slashed the amusement tax rate on movie rentals and other attractions, cutting it from 10 percent to 1 percent.

‘‘Rolling back any kind of tax is good,” Commissioner Wilson Parran (D) said. ‘‘Can’t say anything bad about rolling back a tax.”

Despite calls for tax relief, Parran said he was proud of a budget that was balanced.

‘‘Four years ago when this board started we had a budget that required $12.8 million of reserves to meet operational needs,” he said.

E-mail Andrew Childers at achilders@somdnews.com.