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Perryville sets tax rates

September 05, 2008|JESSE OSBOURNE

PERRYVILLE - Taxpayers here will see a decrease in their real property rate, thanks to an overall increase in the value of property in the city.

The City Council voted Thursday to set the rate at 25 cents per $100 of assessed value, a 1-cent decrease. The council was presented the option of a 2-cent decrease, but declined.

The 1-cent decrease will provide the city with a 4 percent increase in revenue from the tax. Had a 2-cent decrease been approved, the revenue would have remained the same. Every year the council has the option of approving a rate that results in a 4 percent increase in revenue. Any increase producing more than that could be subject to a recall by voters.

City Attorney Bill Stevens recommended the city take the increase in revenue this year because of a tight budget.

Stevens said the council was able to reduce the rate and still get more revenue due to a combination of new property assessed and stronger reassessment of existing property. The rate also likely went down because real property value went up, Stevens said.

Personal property tax rates went up, Stevens said, because of a decline in personal property within the city.

Last year the personal property rates were set at 26 cents per $100 of assessed value.

29 cents per $100

This year, in order to bring in the same amount of revenue plus a 4 percent increase, the rate was set at 29 cents per $100 of assessed value of personal property.

Together, the personal property and real property taxes will bring in roughly $68,217. This will generate roughly $3,983 more in revenue than last year.

The tax rate for motor vehicles and watercraft also was set. The rate remained at 40 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The tax rate on abandoned urban property remained at $5 per $100 of assessed value, something that ruffled citizens' feathers last year.

Council member Julie Clay asked the council if the rate should be changed. She also asked if the rate had produced any results for cleaning up properties.

Stevens said the rate was effective last year. He said the high rate served one of its purposes: to get property owners' attention.

Mayor Anne Sleet said last year people with abandoned property were upset when they received their tax bills that were sometimes as much as $1,500.

However, it was noted that seven or eight bills were issued last year and all were paid, according to City Clerk Mona Followell.

In other news, the council voted to install a permanent electrical system on the river.

At the last meeting, Bill Faulconer of Faulconer Mechanical Service proposed incorporating 10 vertical posts higher on the banks of the Chaplin River to alleviate the problems the city has been having with events on the river.

The project is meant to fix a electrical problems where vendors normally set up for commemoration weekend during the Perryville Civil War re-enactment. Flooding has also wreaked havoc on the electrical system.

All labor and materials for the project will be donated.

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