Pickett County Lowers Tax Rate

The Pickett County Board of Commissioners voted to lower the county’s tax rate 5-cents, setting it at $2.41.

Pickett County Executive Carey Garner said the county had extra funds on the heels of last year’s 74-cent property tax increase. He said if revenues continue to be strong, the county may have the chance to lower the rate more in the future.

“We may, if we can keep everything running like it is,” Garner said. “And if we have the same revenues coming in, or if we have more revenue coming in, it would be a lot better.”

Garner said even with the decrease, the county is raising more than the state requested. Pickett County had a goal of raising the fund balance to $1.2 million in three years. It met that goal in just one.

He thought since the county was ahead of where they hoped to be with revenues, it made since to make the cut.

“That’s the reason we’re wanting to give this back,” Garner said. “We finished just a little better than we thought we would because we have a little extra money.”

The Pickett County Commission raised taxes last year by 43-percent to help offset a $600,000 budget deficit in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.