The City of Laurel approved its budget for the next fiscal year during a public hearing at Laurel City Hall on August 31st.
Then this week, the council voted to accept the tax assessment rolls from the county for 2020.
The Jones County Tax Assessor-Collector has filed the real and personal tax assessment rolls for the year 2020, of property located within the corporate limits of the city of Laurel with the municipal clerk of the city of Laurel, per the requirements of the Inter-local Agreement between the City of Laurel and Jones County, Mississippi for the collection of ad valorem taxes.
Also during the meeting, the council adopted an order levying the tax millage for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021.
City Clerk Mary Ann Hess, who gave an overview of the 2021 budget, said no ad valorem tax increase is included. Also, she said the city’s millage rate remains at 43.35 mills.
Officials also announced that the value of a mill has increased over the past year, so there should be an increase in revenue for the city. A mill levy is a property tax that is based on the assessed value of a property. The rate of this tax is expressed in mills. One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value.
The mill levy rate is determined every year by dividing the total assessed value of all of the taxable property in a city or town by the overall amount of tax that is necessary to cover city, county, and state budget requirements.
“A mill has increased by 5.2 percent in the past year,” Hess explained.
“That’s a good thing for the budget.”
Hess said the previous year, a mill increased by 3.2 percent, and over the past seven years, it has shown slight increases.
The city clerk said this year’s budget process went smoothly. She noted that the city did not increase its budget and the school district’s budget did not increase.
The school’s millage rate was reduced from 69.11 mills to 68.99 mills.
Citizens of the city of Laurel were invited to attend a public hearing on the budget in August.
Hess also told those gathered that no capital expenditures were put in the upcoming year’s budget. However, she said a lot of work on the city’s streets has been budgeted. Hess said the street improvement fund is increasing from the $3.8 million expected to be spent this budget year to the $10.8 million being budgeted for next year.
Also, the city’s public utility improvement fund, which involves the water and sewer, will increase from the $3 million expected to be spent this budget year to the $5.8 million budgeted for next year.
According to Hess, a large amount of those funds are from bonds the city has sold to repair the city streets and to handle its public utilities.
Laurel Mayor Johnny Magee said the city’s goal was to present a balanced budget.
Mayor Magee said in these uncertain times, the goal was to avoid a tax increase if possible.
“I am pleased that there is no tax increase,” the mayor said. “We continue to strive to work efficiently when spending the citizen’s money.”
Council President Tony Thaxton called the financial document “a good solid budget.”
Council Budget Chairman Tony Wheat agreed.
“We are extremely blessed to have maintained the revenue we have and the tourism taxes that we have,” Wheat said. “We didn’t suffer as much as was anticipated (due to COVID-19). We had a slight drop and we’ve gotten through all that. Anytime we finish above budget, everything is good.”
Mayor Magee said that no employees’ raises were recommended by the city administration and none are a part of the budget. He said the city will look at possible raises during the middle of the budget year.
The city’s new fiscal year will begin October 1.