Van Buren County is reporting a significant financial turnaround thanks to a growth in revenue.
Van Buren County Commission Chairman Cale Crain said a recent state property reassessment resulted in higher property values for many residents. Crain said the county intends to lower the tax rate to level out the impact and keep payments consistent with previous years.
“The tax rate will not be the same, it will go down to level out and try to keep people’s property taxes along the same lines of what they were previously paying,” Crain said. “That’s key is to help keep people’s money in their pockets and being able to utilize and run their lives and everything else.”
Crain said the county has experienced a substantial increase in revenue from sales tax and hotel-motel taxes. Crain said the growth is largely driven by a surge in small business activity, including new farmer’s markets and food trailers opening throughout the county.
“To my knowledge, that is, this is the best looking budget year that we’ve had,” Crain said.
Crain said the budget committee meets monthly to review expenditures and revenues to ensure the county does not overspend. Crain said the commission focuses on researching multiple options for every purchase rather than accepting the first available price to ensure quality and affordability.
“We researched things, we checked things, and we dotted our i’s and crossed our t’s to make sure that we were doing everything that was possible and everything that was needed for the citizens of Van Buren County to make sure that their tax dollars were being utilized correctly,” Crain said.
Crain said the county is working to address minor deficits in the 911 center and school budgets. Crain said officials are looking for ways to tighten the belt in certain spending areas to avoid tax increases while residents deal with high gas and food prices.
“I’d like for them to know that your county commissioners, your budget committee, your board and everything else is doing everything that we can to do to keep their money in their pockets,” Crain said. “As commissioner and the chairman of the commission and part of the budget committee, we’re doing anything and everything possible to make sure that, you know, we keep our taxes low.”