BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — Brownsville residents are potentially looking at a 44 percent tax hike because the city is low on funds, and the mayor doesn’t know why.
The city’s board of aldermen is considering a property tax rate of $2.60 per $100 of assessed value. That’s roughly a 44 percent hike from where the rate is now and means someone with a $100,000 home would pay about $200 more every year.
Mayor William Rawls said the general fund has dwindled from about $4 million to roughly $500,000 in a matter of months.
“The money is all going to be accounted for,” Rawls said. But as of now, he doesn’t know where it went.
That’s why he’s conducting an internal audit. He says the issue took the board by surprise.
Rawls says a tax hike is one of several options on the table, adding he’ll do everything he can to avoid any increase.
“We’ve cut, asked departments to cut by 17 percent and we cut some more, and we’ll do some more cutting before we set any type of tax rate,” he said. “Anybody who owes us money, we get our money in.”
It’s all little comfort to residents like Tommy Hooper, who worries something fishy is going on.
“There’s a lot of concern. That’s all I’ve been hearing for the last several days,” Hooper said. “What small industries we have, it will devastate some of them.”
The issue is likely to be discussed during a board of aldermen meeting Tuesday evening but no vote on setting a tax rate is expected.