Newton County tax payers will see an increase on their bills now that the board of commissioners (BOC) approved the 2017 budget and millage rate during a special called meeting Monday evening.

Because property values have increased, but the millage rate will remain the same from fiscal year 2016, tax payers will see an increase in taxes by 5.21 percent.

Two separate millage charges go the total rate of 13.441: the county’s maintenance and operations rate of 12.99 and emergency medical services of .451.

The agreed-upon millage is necessary to balance the county’s $54,643,855 budget. In order to keep the millage rate the same as it was last year, instead of raising it, the county had to find new ways of trimming the county’s proposed expenditures.

Among those ways to decrease expenses and increase revenues are a $50 fee at the convenience centers and reduction in their hours through January, the closure of the centers in January, and a 3 percent reduction in funds to the county’s outside appropriations.

Newton County Interim County Manager Lloyd Kerr presented these solutions to the board throughout a lengthy process that resulted in three public hearings before Monday’s vote. That process included having departments reduce their proposed budgets to 2016 numbers, discussion of greater reductions in appropriations and multiple options for the county’s solid waste revenue stream.

“We started this budget process some months back and this board challenged or asked our staff to do the impossible,” said Commissioner Lanier Sims, District 2. “I know they had late nights and stressful days to try not only to balance this budget, but adhere to wishes of this board. We gave them impossible task not to raise millage rate and not to cut anything. Those two just don’t go hand-in-hand.”

The county will spend a proposed maintenance and operating budget of $54,643,855 in fiscal year 2017 with public safety representing half of that budget. Court offices take up another 10 percent of the county’s budget and general government 40 percent.

That budget was made official during a special called meeting at the Newton County Historic Courthouse Monday night after a 3-2 vote. District 2 Commissioner Lanier Sims made the motion to approve the budget with District 3 Commissioner Nancy Schulz making a second and District 5 Commissioner Levie Maddox voting to approve it.

If the budget was not approved by the BOC, then the county would have had to borrow funds to operate the government, costing the county in interest rates and credit ratings.

“There are a lot of ugly items I do not like [in this budget],” Maddox said. “If we don’t approve it tonight I think it will be incredibly costly and I think it will be a little ridiculous. There is no support here to make the cuts that are necessary to lower the mileage rate.”

District 1 Commissioner John Douglas, who has not voted for a budget in his four years on the board, and District 4 Commissioner J.C. Henderson voted against the budget.

"I told people when I ran for this office four years ago, I would never vote to raise their taxes,” Douglas said. “And, I completed that mission here tonight.