County lays out possible offsets: millage limits, gas tax, assessments and fees

During Q&A, residents asked whether the county could simply raise taxes to offset lost property‑tax revenue. Wade Schroeder explained the mechanics and limits: “Our current aggregate millage is about 6.7 mills. The constitutional cap for a county is 10 mills,” and he described new rules requiring simple‑majority or supermajority votes depending on the chosen millage approach.

Schroeder offered a concrete estimate about gas taxes: “I believe, the the most recent estimates are about $9,000,000 of additional revenue could be realized… If the county levied the full, the full 12¢ gas taxes,” noting the county currently levies 6¢ of the allowable 12¢.

Andrews and Schroeder also described alternatives such as municipality service benefit assessments for localized services, right‑sizing and indexing fees, and public‑private partnerships; they cautioned that many revenue sources are legally restricted (enterprise funds, solid waste, utility charges, bed taxes) and cannot be repurposed to cover property‑tax‑funded public safety or transportation costs.