White County residents narrowly avoided a 15.3% property tax increase after Wednesday night’s board meeting.
To start the night, another Truth in Taxation hearing was held, during which only two residents spoke out against the proposed tax increase. Last year, the County agreed to raise taxes by 18%, and now this year, property taxes were set to go up another 15.3%. The stated reason for this proposed increase was population change.
Resident Richard Cook spoke at the hearing and explained that he and other citizens were confused by the rise in taxes, since departments within the County received raises just this year. Another citizen, Andrew Elliot, read a letter from Treasurer Mike Baxley’s office stating that the County’s investment income increased by over 1,000%.
With no other comments or concerns raised, the board explained to the residents that there are many factors behind the County’s revenue loss, including the Safe-T Act and state funding reductions.
A reminder that the board originally discussed raising the taxes at their November meeting, where they voted to accept the increase. Unfortunately for them, they did not have the Truth in Taxation hearing published in time per state law; it must be published not more than 14 days nor less than 7 days before the public hearing. Due to their failure to publish on time, the approval did not count, giving the County another chance to pass in December.
More discussion on the issue was had during their regular board meeting, which began at 7.
The Fiscal Year 2026 White County Tax Levy Ordinance was at a standstill, with Pigg and Cannon voting yes to pass the budget, and Spencer and Usery voting no. South was absent due to illness.
The Levy has to be filed by December 30th. With the board split, members decided to try to work out a different solution, but it will come at a future price. A 5% tax increase was offered, but that would mean the County would have to cut $336,693 from department budgets or sell CDs.
Chairwoman Cassie Pigg shared her concerns,
“It’s a bad situation to be in across the board, for taxpayers and for the government to operate.”
Bellwether representative Dustin Harmon explained,
“Ideally, we come to a number that we can levy to have a plan for next year, and then I can, like if you reduce the corporate levy, then we’re going to have to get back into the budget and find the money to balance.”Amanda Cannon: “I think we pillaged the budget.”Harmon: “In order to do a 5% increase over the previous year, we’d have to reduce by $336,693.”
Treasurer Baxley gave board members some relief, saying CDs would help, but it would be tight.
“We’ve got some in CDs, you know, we’ll have to sell some CDs and depend on our restricted funds to kind of float. Those funds are included in our general fund operating account, and they kind of help float it, so that I can put investments outside and make money.”Chairwoman Pigg: “Is it doable, like are we going to be able to pay our bills?”Baxley: “Another 300,000 outside of what we normally spend? I think it’s doable, it’s going to be tight.”
With a Motion to Reconsider brought back to the board, all members, except Usery, who voted no, approved a 5% increase.
Pigg ended the topic by stating,
“I don’t really agree with this, and I don’t think this is the smartest decision that we could be making, but I’m gonna vote yes just so that our county can continue to operate in some function.”
With the County only raising the levy by 5%, by this time next year, residents could see a significant increase in the 2027 tax levy.