FORT SCOTT — Bourbon County commissioners voted 5-0 Monday to exceed the county's revenue neutral rate as their budget consultant recommended a 56.678-mill levy, then held off on adopting the 2027 budget.
Matt Lawn of Baker Tilly described 56.678 mills as a flat levy compared with last year. He said the county's revenue neutral rate is 54.661 mills, which would maintain the same total amount of property tax collections as the previous year.
Lawn said adopting the revenue neutral rate instead would reduce the levy by 2.017 mills, or approximately $294,000.
Michael Hoyt, the former acting county clerk, asked for the county's assessed valuation after saying it was missing from information released for the hearing. Lawn gave the figure as $138,681,091.
Hoyt said that worked out to roughly $138,000 per mill and asked whether a mill now generates about $143,000. Lawn said yes.
Chairman Gregg Motley said those figures do not account for the county's neighborhood revitalization program, under which some property taxes are rebated for 10 years.
"It's not an expenditure. It's a revenue offset," Motley said.
Motley read the resolution to exceed the 54.661-mill revenue neutral rate, and County Clerk Ann Clarkson called the roll. Commissioners Joe Allen, David Beerbower, Mika Milburn-Kee, Samuel Tran and Motley all voted yes.
The commission then moved into its budget hearing but did not adopt the budget.
"I need to read it," Milburn-Kee said.
Lawn said commissioners have until Oct. 1 to adopt the budget and could vote at their Sept. 21 or Sept. 28 meeting.
Mills shift between funds
Lawn said the total proposed levy remains 56.678 mills, but mills have been moved among individual funds.
The largest increase is in the employee benefit fund, which rises 2.313 mills. Lawn said the budget includes enough to cover a 5% increase in benefit costs other than health insurance and an estimated 18% to 20% increase in health insurance costs, depending on the department.
A breakdown of changes in the mill levy for each department is below.