County council OKs budget that contains modest tax hike

Cherokee County Council signed off Monday on an $18.7 million spending plan that increases property taxes by 2.06 mills.

The new property tax rate will be 66.4 mill for county operations. The tax hike would add about eight more dollars to a tax bill on a home valued at $100,000.

"I have had our staff personnel to develop a budget which I feel addresses all concerns and issues and which I feel is acceptable to all or a majority of county council, but more important, a budget that is to the best interest of the county," Cherokee County Interim Administrator Ben Clary said in a memo to finance committee chairman Charles Mathis.

The budget includes a 3 percent cost-of-living raise for county employees. But department heads and their employees will have to make do without new capital equipment or overtime pay in the new fiscal year budget.

Mathis said the county's capital fund now totals about $1.5 million. He said funding the budget's capital requests, including a backhoe, garbage trucks, motorgrader and police cruisers, would eat up as much as $891,000 of that total.

Two more readings and a public hearing are needed before the new budget takes effect July 1.