City sets 2018 millage rate at 7.70 mills

The Cairo City Council gave final approval to the 2018 municipal ad valorem tax rate Monday night.
City property owners will pay a net 7.70 mills this year, which is a 2.27 percent increase. However, at 7.70 mills applied to the city’s 2018 tax digest the city will have a projected shortfall of $172,757.80 in budgeted revenue.
City Manager Chris Addleton said that actual collections in 2017 totaled $1,602,501.83 and he and city finance director Miriam Faircloth anticipate similar collections this year, which would cover the projected shortfall.
The city’s rate of 7.70 mills applied to the current tax digest is only calculated to generate $1,425,242 in tax revenue. The 2017 rate was 7.61 and projected revenue was $1,393,541, but actual collections exceeded $1.6 million.
The city’s tax digest has grown by nearly $15 million since 2013, which has made it possible for the council to reduce the net tax rate from 8.279 in 2013 to 7.70 this year.