Pickett Budget Committee Approves 74-Cent Property Tax Increase

Pickett County’s budget committee has re-approved a 74-cent property tax increase to address budget shortfalls.

With the increase, the county is projecting a fund balance of approximately $961,000 by the end of the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

However, County Executive Carey Garner said after the meeting the commission would still have to re-apply for a loan to make ends meet.

“If we get the budget approved, we’ll go back before the Comptroller and ask for the loan,” Garner said. “I’m pretty sure they’ll let us have the loan. I don’t know if it will be exactly what we ask for, but they pretty much told us if we get a budget passed that they would see that the loan would be approved.”

The commission applied for a $600,000 loan in June to pay for operating costs until property taxes were collected in October. However, Garner said during Tuesday’s budget meeting that the Comptroller’s Office denied the loan as no spending plan had been approved.

Last month, the full commission voted against the original 74-cent increase. No changes were made to the new proposal as committee members and county residents analyzed each individual cost for the new fiscal year under the 74-cent proposal.

According to Garner, approximately 42 cents of the 74-cent increase will go towards Pickett County Schools.

The full commission will consider the budget plan Monday, July 15 at the Pickett County Library beginning at 6 p.m.