County proposes $90,750 tax asking increase for ’18-’19

    HARLAN – Shelby County’s tax asking will increase an estimated $90,750 under a budget proposal expected to be adopted by the Shelby County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, March 13.
    A hearing on the 2018-19 county budget will be held at 9 a.m. that day in the supervisors’ room at the Shelby County Courthouse.  The increase in the tax asking from the current budget is necessary to avoid continued deficit spending, yet is smaller than anticipated due to continued efforts to reign in expenditures, county officials said.
    The county is in its second year of an implemented plan requiring departments tow the line on expenses to the tune of a 10 percent cut in their budgets in total over three years.  The budget reduction plan is a proactive measure because of anticipated losses in tax revenues due to everything from a struggling ag economy (lower valuations) to decreasing population.
    Had the county not implemented the budget reduction plan, this year’s tax asking increase could very well have been higher, officials said.