Final Public Hearing Tonight on Fr. Co.’s Proposed FY16 Budget

Franklin County Commissioners will hold the third and final public hearing this evening before passing their Fiscal 2016 budget.

Few citizens showed up to the Justice Center in Carnesville last Tuesday for the first two public hearings to comment on the County’s plan to increase next year’s budget and raise property taxes almost three mills.

County Manager Beth Thomas is proposing a fiscal 2016 budget of just over $13.2 million, up from this fiscal year’s budget of $11.8 million.

Thomas said unless the millage is raised, the County will have a budget shortfall of $1.3 million in FY16.

Thomas said the County’s General Fund has been running a deficit for the past five years forcing the County to dip into its cash reserves year after year until now there is almost nothing left to fall back on.

“In the last five years, we have not made enough money to cover our expenditures,” she said. “These deficits range anywhere from $152,000 to $1.1 million. So just like with your home, when you don’t have enough money to cover expenditures, you have to dive into your savings account. And that’s exactly what the County has done.”

Thomas is calling for a weighted millage increase whereby those living in unincorporated parts of the County would have their property taxes raised 2.9 mils and those in municipalities would have theirs raised 1.8 mils.

Thomas said the increase is necessary in order to cover upcoming expenses in fiscal 2016.

At the first public hearing last week, one citizen, Charles Johnson told County Commission chair Thomas Bridges said that plan is not fair.

“I knew right off that there was an injustice,” he said. “There’s something not right here because this is not fair and equal for all the people in the County.”

Johnson said every property owner in the county should pay the same amount.

Additionally, he said many living in unincorporated parts of the county are on fixed incomes and could not afford such a huge tax increase.

“It’s going to put a bigger burden on them,” he said. “A lot of them are on fixed incomes. Most of their increase from the federal government a year is only 1.7% . So right off you’re dipping into funds I know they don’t have.”

He also noted that the County has some 7,000 residents who rent and they he said will not be affected by the higher property taxes.

Tonight’s public hearing on the FY2016 budget takes place at 6p at the Justice Center in Carnesville.

The Board is then expected to vote to pass the new budget during their regular work session immediately after the public hearing.

Franklin County’s new fiscal year begins Wednesday, July 1.