The budget committee in Carter County, Elizabethton, Tenn. (WJHL), has proposed the fiscal budget for 2026, deciding to maintain the property tax rate at $2.18 for every $100 of assessed property value.

On Thursday, the committee recommended a budget of approximately $84.1 million, opting not to increase the tax rate, even after a challenging fiscal year marked by extensive damage from Hurricane Helene.

“The department heads, directors, and office holders managed to create very efficient budgets,” budget committee member Danny Deal shared with News Channel 11 on Monday.

“When Helene hit we thought, ‘oh, here we go,’ but it worked out well.”

The proposal is set for public hearing and final reading by the full county commission on June 30.

A tax rate of $2.18 per $100 of assessed value equates to a tax bill of $545 for every $100,000 a home is valued at by the property assessor’s office — $990 for a home worth $200,000, $1,363 for one valued at $250,000 and so on.

Deal said the tax scenario was also helped by Sheriff Mike Fraley agreeing to allocate funds from the Carter County Sheriff’s Office reserves to purchase equipment needed for additional officers. He said the committee also recommended shifting some reserves from the court fee accounts to help avoid a tax hike this year.

The county’s general fund budget of $25,263,204 will use $1.0656 of the $2.18 to raise about $11.4 million of its budget. The expenses are 2.8% above the current year’s projected expenses.

The salary and benefits line of just over $17 million is a 4% increase over the current year, and Deal said the committee is hopeful the proposed budget will allow for a flat 75-cent per hour raise for county employees. That works out to a $1,560 increase for a full-time worker and would equate to a 5% raise for someone making $15 an hour and a 2.5% raise for someone making $30 an hour.

The school system’s property tax share of 85.4 cents will account for a little over $9 million of its $47.4 million budget, with state revenues making up the lion’s share ($36.5 million) of that budget.

The highway/public works department will receive about $1,1 million of its $9.7 million budget from property tax, with debt service’s $1.7 million almost entirely funded through property tax.