Columbus Tax Rate Unchanged

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — Columbus land owners won’t pay a higher property tax rate when bills are mailed out later this fall.

The City Council tonight approved the rate of 107 mills for the new budget year that starts Oct. 1. That’s the same as the current year.

About 60 percent of that is for city schools while the remainder covers police, fire, public works and other city services and the city’s share of the state police and fire retirement fund. The school board and city council vowed earlier this year not to raise taxes and both boards have made extensive cuts to budget requests to keep that promise.

The council will approve the city’s $23,258,533 general fund spending plan at a special meeting next week. It includes a 2 dollar increase in the city’s monthly trash collection fee and takes $326,000 from reserves. Some council members have suggested they may make more adjustments next week to try to reduce the amount of money coming from reserves.

The school board approved its budget in July. The city council does not control the school budget and just sets the tax rate to fund it.

It includes a 2 dollar increase in the city’s monthly trash collection fee and takes 326 thousand dollars from reserves.