CRESTVIEW — City leaders have set a tentative, 7.8466 millage rate for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
Councilmen Joe Blocker and Bill Cox voted yes, and JB Whitten voted no on the proposal, which raises the tentative millage rate 2 mills. One mill is $1 of tax per thousand dollars of taxable property value.
The rate can be lowered throughout the budgeting process, but it cannot be raised, City Clerk Betsy Roy said.
"It (the rate) can and must come back down, but we are at a point where we have got to act," Blocker said.
Florida statutes determine the timeline for setting a tentative rate, and city leaders had to give a figure on Monday so the property appraiser could give taxpayers adequate notice of public discussion on the issue.
Before the vote, Roy said the council could select a rate up to 10 mills.
City leaders scheduled public hearings on Sept. 9 and Sept. 22 — both 5:05 p.m. at city hall — to discuss the tentative millage rate and budget.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview City Council sets tentative millage rate