With spring comes not just fresh grass and sprouting flowers, but budget time. For the county, cities and schools, next week marks the start of the budget season as proposed levy hearings are held.
Last week, the Clarke County Auditor’s Office mailed out budget statements to all property owners or taxpayers in the city and county. The mailing is required by legislation set forth in House File 718, which was passed and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023. The legislation dictates that the notices must be sent out no later than March 20, and include any taxable entities for a taxpayer’s property.
The statement includes information regarding school, county and city proposed budget tax rates that are payable in September and March 2026, as well as information about scheduled public hearings regarding the proposed levy rates. Fiscal Year 2025-26 begins July 1.
The legislation also caps levy rates for both cities and counties. Cities have a cap at $8.10 per $1,000 in taxable value, and counties a cap of $3.50 per $1,000 for general services and $3.95 for rural services.
Local governments are placed into three tiers based on their revenue growth with different formulas to determine how much of the excess revenue must be dedicated to lowering property taxes, and the process for bringing existing property tax rates down to those set maximums.
For counties above the amounts, they have been suggested to incrementally lower the amount until 2029 when the law takes full effect.
The following are Clarke and Murray schools and the City of Murray’s proposed tax levy hearing dates for Fiscal Year 2025-2026; the City of Osceola and Clarke County will appear in next week’s paper.
The hearings are listed by date of occurrence. At these public hearings, only matters related to the levy can be discussed; public hearings for proposed budgets will be set for a later date. The public is invited to make comments at the hearings.
Clarke Community Schools
Clarke Community Schools will hold their proposed tax levy hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 24, in the Central Administrative Office.
The current general fund tax levy for FY24-25 is $4,720,104, with the proposed general fund levy for FY25-26 at $4,311,965. Figures for instructional support levy have the highest proposed increase from $27,044 in FY24-25 to $399,253 in FY25-26.
The grand total of tax dollars levied for FY24-25 is $6,600,106, and has a proposed increase to $6,815,619 in FY25-26. The grand total levy rate in FY24-25 is 16.58916 and is proposed at 16.58531 in FY25-26.
Residential property with an actual/assessed value of $100,000/$110,000 in FY24-25 have current property taxes of $769 with proposed taxes of $865 in FY25-26, a 12.48% increase. Commercial property with an actual/assessed value of $300,000/$330,000 have a proposed 13.97% increase from $3,393 in property taxes in FY24-25 to $3,867 in FY25-26.
Reasons listed for the tax increase if higher than the current are the increase of over 48 enrolled students, and the additional expenditures brought forth by the increased enrollment. Deferred maintenance expenditures are also listed.
City of Murray
The City of Murray will hold their proposed tax levy hearing at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25 at Murray City Hall.
The City of Murray will hold their proposed tax levy hearing at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25 at Murray City Hall.
The current property tax for non-debt services for the FY24-25 is $14,225,517, with an increase proposed in FY25-26 to $14,559,098. The consolidated general fund will see a small increase from $117,147 in FY24-25 to a proposed $119,894 in FY25-26, and debt service just shy of a proposed $4,000 increase to $106,295 in FY25-26 from $102,824 in FY24-25.
The city’s regular total property tax for FY24-25 is $257,773 at a rate of 18.12042, and has a proposed increase in FY25-26 to $263,800 with a rate of 18.11938.
Taxable city ag land for Murray has a FY24-25 property tax of $142,928 and ag land at $429 with a tax rate of 3.00375. In FY25-26, those numbers will have a proposed increase to $156,733 for city ag land and $471 for ag land with the tax rate remaining the same.
City regular residential property with an actual/assessed value of $100,000/$110,000 in FY24-25 have current taxes of $840 with proposed taxes at $945, a 12.50% increase, in FY25-26.
City regular commercial property with an actual/assessed value of $300,000/$330,000 have a proposed 13.98% increase from $3,706 in FY24-25 to $4,224 in FY25-26.
A reason listed for the tax increase if higher than the current is due to valuation increases.
Murray Community Schools
Murray Community Schools will hold their proposed tax levy hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 in the Murray Elementary Library.
Murray Community Schools will hold their proposed tax levy hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 in the Murray Elementary Library.
The current general fund levy of tax dollars for FY24-25 is $704,892, with a proposed increase in FY25-26 to $716,886. Management is proposed to decrease from $130,521 in FY24-25 to a proposed $45,593 in FY25-26, and physical plan and equipment a slight increase from $27,832 in FY24-25 to proposed $28,639 in FY25-26. The debt service will increase to a proposed $222,311 in FY25-26 from $120,969 in FY24-25.
The grand total for FY24-25 tax dollars sits at $1,093,104 and is proposed to increase to $1,124,877 in FY25-26. The grand total levy rate will increase slightly in FY25-26 to a proposed 12.96176 from 12.96076 in FY24-25.
Residential property with an actual/assessed value of $100,000/$110,000 in FY24-25 have current taxes of $601 with proposed taxes at $676 in FY25-26, a 12.48% increase. Commercial property with an actual/assessed value of $300,000/$330,000 have a proposed 13.99% increase from $2,651 to $3,022 in FY25-26.
Reasons listed for the tax increase if higher than the current are an increase in property taxes due to an increase in valuations for the General Fund and PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment). The Debt Service Levy is also increased due to an additional payment on the GO Bond to reduce the cost of tax payer interest.