2012-13 Budget Proposal Set: Council deliberations begin

   After two review sessions this week, Murfreesboro City Council is ready to move to the public hearing phase of considering its 2012-2013 budget proposal.
   For the 14th year in a row, the proposed budget does not call for a property tax rate hike and leaves the current $1.2703 per $100 of assessed value in place. One penny of the current tax rate will generate approximately $281,300 if approved by council. Murfreesboro’s fiscal year follows that of the State of Tennessee or from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.
   Murfreesboro’s 2012-2013 proposed budget totals $112.29 million in revenues, a 2.51 percent increase from last year, according to the document.
   The City’s share of local option sales taxes has already exceeded those that came in Fiscal Year 2008, prior to the recent economic downturn and the upward trend is expected to continue into 2013.
   “The economy is showing signs of rebounding as evidenced in a projected growth of 9.4 percent in local sales tax for fiscal year 2013,” Lyons said. “As such, we have budgeted an approximate $2.83 million increase for the fiscal year 2013 budget.”
    Lyons does not recommend a hike in the property tax rate.
   “Property tax revenues are projected to be $35.74 million, which exceeds the FY 2012 budget by approximately $142, 000,” Lyons wrote.
    If the average Murfreesboro home costs $181,400, and assessments are made on a quarter of that appraised value, that average homeowner would pay $576.08 in annual property taxes or $48 per month.
   For that $48, the homeowner funds police and fire protection, weekly garbage removal and yard waste collections, the City’s one-of-a-kind Parks and Recreation Department, street paving and repair along with snow and ice removal and public rights-of-way mowing in summer by the Streets Department, Planning and Engineering and Building Codes services and all that the increasingly popular St. Clair Street Senior Center has to offer, among many others. ... more