By Sam Parsons

The Marion County Board of Supervisors met on Tuesday and officially approved the county budget and property tax levy rate for FY24. The board approved the levy rate of $9.78 per $1,000 of valuation, a $0.10 decrease from this year’s property tax levy rate. That marks the fifth consecutive year in which the Marion County Board has decreased the property tax levy rate; it had been about $10.73 as recently as FY20. Board member Mark Raymie said that it was important to lower the rate as assessments have been going up, a concern which he said was best to raise to lawmakers at the state level.

“The trend has been to decrease the overall levy rate from preceding boards and this board,” Raymie said. “I’m very proud of the fact that board members look for ways to reign in costs [and] return dollars to the taxpayer, but also fully fund the services and economic activities that we have undertaken. That’s unusual for a county our size.

“People have been receiving their assessments,” Raymie continued, “and they are shocked at the valuations. And so we get the question a lot about the increase in property taxes because of that part of the math formula. I want to continue to encourage our residents: talk to your state representatives. They will push back, and they will say, along with the lobbying groups, that it’s local boards of supervisors, local school boards, your city councils, that are responsible. And that is inaccurate.”

The county’s budget was also approved, which included an estimated $31.3 million in total revenues, a decrease of about $3.5 million from the current fiscal year, and an estimated $40.4 million in expenditures, an increase of about $3.7 million over the current fiscal year.

And the board approved the county’s secondary roads department budget, which had approximately $10.2 million in total expenditures.