The Knox City Council held a public hearing last night in regards to re-establishing the cumulative capital development fund for the city, but no city taxpayers were present to give their input on the matter. Unfortunately, the council did not have a quorum as three members were absent, preventing them from conducting any official business besides discussion.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston explained that the council would like to re-establish that fund because over time the levy – that is, the amount of money raised from taxes – goes up, while the percentage of funds going toward the cumulative capital fund goes down.
So, Houston explained, in order to keep the same amount of money flowing into that fund, the council must routinely raise the fund percentage up to five cents for every $100 of assessed property value. He said the council started the process last year, and have been doing it over a two-year period.
Houston said it’s important to have this done because the fund percentage has dropped to 0.0164 percent – less than cents per $100 assessed property value. He said raising it up to five cents would allow funds that would normally go into other cumulative funds to be piled into a single cumulative capital development fund, allowing the council to use those funds for any capital project that is needed. He said this change would allow the council more flexibility, allowing them to spend the funds on any capital project rather than having a separate cumulative fund for fire, sewer, and other departments.
As a result of the lack of a quorum, the council will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m., when they are expected to vote on at least the first and second readings of the ordinance.
