County to hold third and final reading of budget

Cherokee County residents will get their say on the county's proposed spending plan at today's 5 p.m. council meeting.

A public hearing is scheduled before council members consider final reading of the $17,620,463 budget that includes a modest tax hike and a 3 percent cost-of-living raise for county employees.

The budget calls for a .95 tax hike, to 80.35 mills. In the county, 1 mill generates $147,413.

A property owner can expect to pay about $4 more in taxes for a home valued at $100,000.

The proposed budget represents a 2.5 percent increase over the current fiscal year's $17,144,000 budget.

The spending plan holds the line on funding county operations, but includes a .6 mill increase the county collects on behalf of the public library and a .3 mill hike for the operations of the Cherokee County Recreation Department. There is also a .05 increase in the millage to fund the Spartanburg Technical College's branch campus.

There is no proposed change in the millage rate to pay for the county's debt, capital building fund or capital projects fund. The proposed spending plan

funds a couple of new positions, including a part-time employee in the Solicitor's Office for assistance in the Worthless Check Enforcement Program.