White County commissioners discussed how the county could use revenue generated by a proposed sales tax increase during a Monday work session.
The increase will be considered by voters later this year. The proposal would increase the county’s share of the sales tax from 2.25 percent to 2.75 percent on every $100 spent. Commissioner Dakota White said he would like to see the revenue used to address some of the county’s financial holes.
“We have a lot of pitfalls currently that have been in place for a long time,” White said. “So instead of there being a grand shift in a whole bunch of things, this could be utilized as a filler to get us more current.”
Commissioner Derrick Hutchings said potential uses for the revenue include paving roads, upgrading fire department equipment, and providing additional financial support for the county’s animal shelter. However, Hutchings said he believes lowering property taxes would be necessary for the proposal to pass.
“You start divvying out a little here, a little there, and a little there, and it’s all gone,” Hutchings said. “We have deficits that need to be covered, I agree with that too, but if we don’t come up with a solution of how we think that we are or are not, or what we are gonna give back, if we don’t give back in property taxes, then it is never going to pass in my opinion.”
White County Finance Director Chad Marcum said the increase is expected to generate about $1 million in annual revenue.
Commissioner Robert McCormick followed up, saying a significant chunk of the revenue needs to go towards lowering property taxes.
“I feel like at least half of it needs to be reverted to a property tax decrease,” McCormick said. “I’m with you, people are not gonna vote for this if they don’t know something good is gonna come from it.”
As commissioners consider lowering property taxes as a possible trade-off, Marcum cautioned against the move, noting that sales tax revenue can fluctuate, while property tax revenue is more stable.
“Transferring that to a volatile tax, you just have to be cautious in doing so to make sure that you are not putting all your eggs in one basket,” Marcum said.
Marcum also cautioned about the county’s maintenance of effort funding for the county school system. Marcum added that White County’s sales tax revenue has been fairly consistent since 2021.
Commissioner T.K. Austin also said the commission needs to be careful about how much of the sales tax revenue would go towards decreasing property taxes.
“You have employees that are still gonna want a raise again this year,” Austin said. “With the budget that we passed last year, there is nothing left to do a raise or anything extra towards the employees. So, that needs to be taken into consideration too.”
Though commissioners discussed multiple options, they did not come to a verbal agreement on how the revenue would be spent. Commissioners will revisit the topic in the next Budget Committee meeting in March.