By Gary Lloyd
CLAY — The Clay City Council will hold its second public hearing regarding the implementation of a five-millage property tax Monday, July 21.
The “brief” public hearing will be at 6 p.m. at Clay City Hall, 30 minutes before the council’s second July meeting.
Clay City Hall
file photo by Gary Lloyd
The city council held its first public hearing about the property tax last month. Being discussed is a five-millage property tax that could add as much as $290,000 to city coffers. The increase in revenue would also help stabilize the city’s income.
Clay currently has no property tax.
The rate would equate to $50 per year on a house with an assessed value of $100,000. It would be $100 per year on a house with an assessed value of $200,000.
The council could levy the tax without a vote. City Manager Ronnie Dixon has estimated that the revenue from residential property alone would net around $180,000, based on Census data.
At the May 19 city council meeting, Dixon discussed a shortcoming of roughly $20,000 per month below the city’s budgeted income. At the June 2 meeting he reiterated this problem.
The city council had a five-millage property tax increase on its agenda in August 2013, but voted 3-2 to remove it from the agenda. It would have generated an additional $500,000 in revenue for the city. Dixon said last year that the average home value in Clay is $120,000 and there are 2,900 houses in the city.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
