The Rhea County Commission set a tax rate of 1.3486 per hundred of taxable property for the upcoming fiscal year 2024-2025. It will go into effect with the October tax notices.
This is the lowest that the county tax rate has been in years. Last year’s rate was $2.2548. According to the Tennessee Property Tax Review, Rhea County is 10 percent below the state average and one of the lowest in the state. Williamson County has the highest rate of $3.9861 per hundred.
The county also approved a lean budget of $82,936,603. This includes a three percent pay raise for county employees. Of some total budget, $54.3 million is for the school system. This amounts to 26.41 cents of the tax rate for the county portion. A large amount of the funds for the school budget comes from state and federal monies. The school budget is up from previous years and includes a starting salary of $51,000 for teachers. The total 2023-2024 budget was $76,187.378.
Many Rhea Countians saw an increase in their property taxes with the new reappraisal. However, Finance Director Ralph Beck said even with the reappraisal of property and the new tax rate, the county only gained $369,053 from the previous year in property tax revenue.
The County Commission will have a special called meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. to discuss insurance issues with the county employee policy. The only other item on the agenda will be discussion of the purchase of new large trucks for the county road department.