The tentative budget given to commissioners on Tuesday also calls for a property tax increase of approximately a half mill. But nothing is official, nothing is final.
Commissioners have two weeks to mull over the budget and proposed tax increase.
Commissioners must decide at their July 25 meeting on where to set the county millage rate - now at 8.9 mills. At that point, commissioners can later lower the millage they set but they cannot increase above the level decided on July 25. The tax hike would amount to a few dollars for many taxpayers, but for large property owners, the nearly half-mill increase would cost thousands. The budget calls for no new county employees. Among the requested positions not filled in the new budget is an executive director for the Edgar Johnson Senior Citizens Center and a number of deputies and detectives for the Sheriff's Office.