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Lafayette County Approves Budget With No Raise in Taxes

Lafayette County residents will not see a rise in their property taxes next year.

On Tuesday, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors approved the 2021 fiscal year budget.

The budget includes $31.5 million in revenues from property taxes and $8,656,281 will go to the county school district, which is raised through a separate 69.37 millage.

The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

There were no comments made from the board or the public before the supervisors voted unanimously to approve the budget Tuesday morning.

The countyโ€™s millage rate, 36.98, is not going up this year. It has remained the same since it was raised from 35.76 in 2017 to 36.98 in 2018.

The budget also includes a $100 a month raise for all full-time employees.

Most of the countyโ€™s revenue, 60.3% comes from ad valorem taxes. About 18.6% comes from fines, license and other revenues, about 11.1% comes from charges for services like solid waste, and about 9.6% comes from the state and .02% comes from federal grants.

Public safety takes up a majority of expenses with 35% devoted to protecting the county and includes the sheriffโ€™s and fire departments, while 31% of the budget is spent on Public Works, which includes roads and solid waste. About 18% is for county government services, 2% is used for capital projects and 5% is used for the courts.

Debt service takes up 5% and 4% goes to health, welfare and economic development.