Cookeville to Consider Rounding Up Certified Tax Rate

Cookeville City Council will consider rounding the certified tax rate to the nearest whole cent.

City Manager James Mills said the rounding process is not unusual and has been a regular occurrence since at least 2006.

“Depending on where that is, it’s going to be a very minimal impact,” Mills said. “The best way to calculate it is for every $100,000 in appraisals value, each tenth that gets rounded up would mean 25 cents more on your annual property tax.”

Mills said that the key purpose of a certified tax rate is to ensure there is not a tax increase and the city is held harmless. Mills said that with the new property appraisals that came out in April some property taxes may go up and some property taxes may go down. This new rate applies to what their new assessed value is.

Mills said that when the city receives the certified tax rate, it goes to four decimal places. Mills said in rounding up the the cent it also makes it easier on the city for calculations.

“For example in 2016, the certified tax rate we received was .8334, and that time council approved it to .84,” Mills said. “In 2012 the certified rate was .8464 and it was rounded to .85 and in a similar fashion is what we’re asking for here.”

Mills said that overall, the total collection of property tax is supposed to generate the same amount of revenue for the city.

The Cookeville City Council will conduct a first public hearing on Thursday, June 3, 2021  and a second public hearing Thursday, June 17, 2021  at 5:30 p.m. The hearings will be held in the Council Chambers of the Cookeville Municipal Building.