The Washington County Board of Supervisors is holding a public hearing next week for their proposed budget and proposed tax levies for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
County residents are invited to attend the hearing, set to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Washington County Courthouse, 905 W. Alexander St., and voice any thoughts and concerns before an official vote is taken.
Washington County is currently operating with a projected total budget of $35,263,091 of which 65.52%, or $23,104,377, of revenue is obtained through ad valorem taxes. For the FY 2020, the proposed budget has a total projected revenue of $37,958,451. Of that amount, 61.65% or $23,401,556 is proposed to be financed through a total ad valorem tax levy.
Carl McGee, president of Washington County Board of Supervisors, said he wants the community to come out and give input on the proposed budget.
“If there are any concerns or anything you may need to add or delete, this is the time for the public to respond before we adopt the budget. We encourage everyone to come out and give input on the proposed budget,” McGee said.
For the next fiscal year, supervisors are not planning to increase the county’s current ad valorem tax millage rate of 67.21 mills.
For the upcoming fiscal year, all three school districts are planning to increase the ad valorem tax millage rate, which means residents will pay more in ad valorem taxes on home, automobile tag, utilities, business fixtures and equipment and rental real property.
The Leland School District plans to increase the current ad valorem tax millage rate 4.79 mills, going from 49.33 mills to 53.12 mills.
The Western Line School District plans to increase the ad valorem tax millage rate by 1.64 mills, going from 43.30 mills to 44.94 mills.
The Hollandale School District also plans to increase the ad valorem tax millage rate by 0.18 mills, moving it up from 46.91 mills to 47.09 mills.
For the next fiscal year, Mississippi Delta Community College does not plan to increase the ad valorem tax millage rate of 3 mills for Maintenance (E&G) & Other Operations and 1.00 mills for Enlargement.
A final decision of the proposed budget and tax levy will be made at Tuesday’s public hearing.
