Pike County supervisors adopted a $29 million 2023-24 budget and a 2.5-mill tax increase to help pay for it Tuesday.
The board held a brief hearing on the tax levy and budget, with no one from the audience speaking up, as County Administrator Tami Dangerfield gave the details on the spending plan.
She said the county is expected to incur $28 million in expenses to its $29 million in projected revenues. The county also has a beginning cash balance of about $33 million.
One mill of the tax increase is to help cover pay raises throughout all county departments, particularly in the sheriff’s office and road departments, where officials said employees are leaving for better-paying jobs. The increase also will pay for rising expenses.
The other 1.5-mills being tacked on are for the construction of a new jail.
Pike County’s public school districts aren’t expected to raise their millage and are requesting fewer local tax dollars this year.
“Each of the school districts submitted their proposed budget. Both of theirs went down a little bit,” Dangerfield said.
“I just want to say thank you for the hard work. This was a tough budget,” Fortenberry told Dangerfield as other supervisors also expressed their thanks. “We’ve got a lot going on in the county.”
