Correction/update: The proposed rollback millage rate is now 11.54 based on the latest tax digest numbers, not 11.59.

Story: Citizens preparing to offer suggestions to county commissioners about how to cut the budget and avoid a millage rate hike can take a look at the PDF copy of the proposed 2013-2014 budget attached to this article.

The document contains proposed expenditures for each department, while the first page shows the 2013 tax digest - the value of all of the county's land, buildings, vehicles, timber and heavy equipment. The News is still waiting to receive a document showing the proposed revenues for next budget year.

The Newton County Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on the attached budget and next year's millage rate Tuesday night, and a majority of commissioners previously reached a informal consensus to raise the millage rate from 10.91 to 11.54 to accomodate the proposed $45.95 million budget.

The county is holding a public hearing on the budget budget at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Historic Courthouse. Chairman Keith Ellis said he will set the time limit for speakers during the public hearing based on how many people express an interest in speaking.

There also will be a public comment portion as normal during the regularly scheduled board meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Although citizens are normally given 3 minutes to speak, Ellis will again base speakers’ time limits on the number of people who want to speak. Because the zoning portion of the meeting must start at 7:30 p.m. by law, Ellis expects to limit comments to 30 minutes as well.