Crawford County tax levy and tax rate will go down
By Ted Pennekamp
The Crawford County Board adopted the county’s 2021 budget during its annual budget hearing Tuesday morning.
The budget involves a tax levy of $8,907,537, which is down from the levy of $8,964,950 of 2020. The tax rate also went down. It was $7.48 in 2020, and will be $7.19 for 2021. A tax rate of $7.19 means that the owner of a property valued at $100,000 will pay $719 in property taxes for county purposes. The equalized county valuation went up. It was $1,198,895,900 in 2020. It is projected to be $1,239,107,900 in 2021.
The county’s budget also involves the short-term borrowing of $425,000 which will be paid back in 2021. The borrowing is being done so that the county does not exceed the state-imposed levy limit. The borrowing will be at an interest rate to be determined, but it will be at a low interest rate because it will be repaid within the same year.
New for 2021 in the county’s budget will be the $20 wheel tax. Finance Committee Chairman Duane Rogers said the wheel tax is expected to generate approximately $320,000 for the county.
The county’s sales and use tax is projected to increase. In 2020, the sales and use tax generated $1,532,000. In 2021, it is expected to be $1,617,500.
Wage Increase
The board also approved of a 2 percent wage increase for county employees. Rogers said this will result in an overall wage increase of $348,399.