New county tax rates are approved

At their April 17 meeting, the Morgan County Commission approved the new tax rates for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

Class 1 properties will be taxed at the rate of 13.68 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Class 2 property rates will be 27.36 cents on every $100 of assessed value.

Class 3 and 4 properties will be taxed at the rate of 54.72 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The new tax rates incorporate a 9% increase on the county's portion of the property taxes and will result in around a 2% hike in people's tax bills. Every tax bill will differ.

The tax increase was needed to bring in some $235,000 to pay for the debt service for $4 million in revenue bonds to rebuild the Morgan County Courthouse.

County government receives 25% to 28% of the total property taxes collected. The Morgan County School Board takes in nearly three times as much revenue from local property taxes as the county does.

A Morgan County home with a market value of $200,000 would be assessed at 60% or $120,000. Total taxes on the home would be about $1,275. The Morgan County School Board would get approximately $950 of the taxes on the home. The county would receive around $325.

County Commissioners Glen Stotler and Tommy Swaim made the motion and approved the new levy rates. Commis-sioner Brenda Hutchinson was absent from the meeting. The County Commission conducted a personnel policy workshop for the rest of the session.