She’ll pay the difference between your 2010 county property tax bill and your higher 2011 bill. Because that is not actually a tax hike. Here, let Jennifer explain:
…Roberts said keeping last year’s tax rate would yield $50 million to $70 million in new money. She said the money could be used for CMS or to finance other county priorities.
Commissioners, who have final approval over the CMS budget, will vote in June. Roberts indicated she supports using the revaluation to funnel more dollars to CMS.
“You don’t have to lobby me,” she told the group.
She added that state law requires Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones to show citizens what their tax rate would be if the county opted to avoid collecting additional money. But she said the county isn’t required to adopt a spending plan that doesn’t collect more money.
When parents asked her how other commissioners felt, she said some disagree with her position. She said Bill James has indicated he wants the tax rate lowered so the county doesn’t collect more money than last year.
“In a revaluation year, keeping the tax rate the same is not a tax increase,” she told the group.
See? Even though your value went up — and hence your tax due — because the tax rate is the same, it is not a tax increase. So that new larger property tax number — often eight, 10, 15, 20 percent larger than last year — is not really an increase. That extra $200, $500, $1000 a year you will send to Mecklenburg County is not really money. I guess. I dunno, I am not an expert — I do not work for the county.
That is why I say the safest course is just to send everything to Jennifer and let her sort it out. She evidently has plan and is sticking to it. Just as we said would be the case — a $40 to 50m. property tax hike. For the children.
