MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — Mt. Juliet city leaders are considering raising the city's property tax rate by four times the current amount, catching many residents off guard.
The city council is debating whether to increase the property tax rate to 44 cents per $100 of assessed value. For a $400,000 home, taxes would jump from $110 to $440 per year if the measure passes a second vote.
"We cannot continue to operate on 11 cents, that's the fifth lowest rate in the state," said Mayor James Maness.
The mayor was open to answering the dozens of concerned questions I received from viewers ahead of Monday's second reading of the proposal. The first reading stretched more than four hours.
"The goal is to get the best product at the best cost to the citizens out there," Maness said.
According to Maness, the current property tax revenue doesn't even cover the cost of the fire department.
"That property tax we collect now does not even cover the cost of the fire department," he said, noting it's a $10 million a year expense.
Public safety remains a priority for city leadership.
"When it comes to the commission as a whole, public safety is not something we're relating to cut or take a step back on," Maness said.
The mayor explained his approach includes trimming the budget in other ways, with 11 positions already cut or left unfilled.
"Let's see where we can save before we do a property tax increase," he said.
When asked why the increase would happen all at once instead of over several years, Maness indicated the city's financial situation has been tightening.
"There was no proposal from staff for a property tax last year. We did go into the budget discussing how tight things were and were concerned there was a possibility we'd run a deficit with that," he said.
Sales tax revenue remains strong in Mt. Juliet, which has helped sustain city operations.
"We're able to sustain a lot of our capital and personnel through sales tax," Maness said.
However, the mayor believes property taxes will need to increase as well, though perhaps not as dramatically as initially proposed.
"I don't think 44 (cents) is the final answer," Maness said. "We'll wait to see what those final numbers are."
Resident reactions have been mixed. Some told me they moved to Mt. Juliet specifically for the low property tax rate and are disappointed by the potential increase. Others who relocated from the West Coast or New England consider it a marginal increase compared to other areas of the country.
The budget will go to a second reading at Monday's regularly scheduled commission meeting.
Send us your property tax questions at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com, and we may address them in our follow-up coverage.
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
