Marion County Raises Taxes, Cuts Volunteer Fire Funding
Posted By Admin on September 4, 2011
Marion County lawmakers have passed a new budget that increases property taxes and decreases funding to all county nonprofit organizations. The budget includes a cut to all volunteer fire department funding.
Hundreds of Marion County taxpayers packed the county commission meeting Monday night to fight against the tax increase and funding cuts. County Commission Chair Eugene Hargis says theyre facing a $1.5 million budget shortfall.
The county decided to raise property taxes 50 cents and make major funding cuts, most notably to all volunteer fire departments.
This commission needs to learn to try to operate within its budget and not pass the blame, said Dewayne Griffith of Marion County.
The commission says they got into this mess because of decreased revenue and over spending. They say the funding cuts and property taxes wont be permanent, but a lot of people had a hard time buying that, and questioned whether the county considered other options. Griffith suggested a 4-day work week.
Granted, its not going to solve the 1.5 million by no means, said Griffith. Its a drop in the bucket, but its a step in the right direction.
As for the fire departments, many of them say theyre going to have to close without funding. No fire protection would result in increased homeowners insurance for property owners in those fire districts.
I dont see us making it two months, said Whitwell Mountain Volunteer Fire Chief Buddy Richardson. They got us in this mess, they shouldve told us last year, Hey we got a problem, but they didnt.
Next year, the county commission wants to implement a wheel tax and take away the property tax they just passed. They say a wheel tax will be more fair because the county has more car owners than homeowners. County Mayor John Graham explained that they didnt have enough time to implement a wheel tax this year because it requires a public vote, and they needed to get a new revenue plan in place now or face serious sanctions from the state.
The commission plans to meet in a couple weeks to see if they can find any extra funding for the fire departments.
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