Overton County Commissioners discussed the idea Monday night of adding additional sales tax and/or a wheel tax increase to the August election ballot.
The county discussed both options before raising property taxes in 2024. Commissioner Geraldine Walker brought the discussion up to see what the county would need to do to get the increases on the ballot.
“I’m just saying that’s what my constituents and like hundreds of people called me, wanting us as commissioners to raise the sales tax and the wheel tax to offset their property tax,” Walker said.
The commission can not pass a sales tax and wheel tax increase without a referendum. Overton County Clerk Victoria Looper said constituents may not want to increase the sales and wheel tax as they did a few years ago.
“Whenever the taxes went up, people would say that the wheel tax is a fair tax, but we have already been taxed more,” Looper said. “Surely they don’t want to pay more taxes.”
Walker said she is not sure if property taxes would decrease much if both the sales and wheel taxes increased. Walker said she will bring the proposal forward to the county’s budget committee.
The current sales tax rate for Overton County is 2.5 percent and the current wheel tax rate is $30.50.
In other business, the commission awarded an estimated $36,500 bid to replace the final portion of the roof on top of the county jail.