What's the tax rate for Erie County? Council, Brenton Davis disagrees

Today, we will tell you about the tax rate for Erie County. What’s the tax rate for Erie County? Council, Brenton Davis disagrees. Let’s start:

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What’s the tax rate for Erie County? Council, Brenton Davis disagrees

Erie County’s millage cost is vital to be aware of.
It is the determining factor in how much you pay in property tax.
In 2023, it was 5.96 This means that homeowners with properties that were valued at $100,000 would be paying an annual tax bill of $596.
In 2024 it was 6.61.
For 2025 it will depend on the person you have.
The majority of Erie County Council says it’s 7.12, which is the amount they agreed to in the 2025 budget.
According to the Erie County Executive Brenton Davis administration, it’s 6.61, which is the same as starting in 2024.

The disparity has caused some confusion among city and county officials in the process of preparing tax bills. The The City Solicitor, Ed Betz,a said the city first printed tax bills using rates of 7.12 millage rate, but the County administration intervened.

“Those tax bills are now being corrected with the 6.61 millage rate,” the official informed The Erie Times-News.

A majority of the council disagrees with the proposal, saying the 6.61 millage rate will not yield enough revenue to cover the spending already authorized in the budget of 2025.

“Our revenues and expenditures have to match,” said Councilmember Rock Copeland, who is chairman of the finance committee. “We are required to pass a balanced budget.”

Betza on Wednesday announced that the city’s tax bills had not yet been mailed out to property owners but that new bills would be sent out within about 10 working days.

Chairperson of Council Terry Scutella said the council would write to Davis and advise Davis to utilize the 7.12 millage rate. 7.12 millage rates.

If he doesn’t, the council may seek a court order to prevent tax bills from getting paid.

“If we don’t find any common ground, then we will go to court,” Scutella declared.

Texas Homestead Exemption Bill, property taxes, and school funding

What is the reason for this?

The squabble about the millage rate results from a conflict about the vote to veto.

When the council approved the budget for 2025 in November, the council had to balance the budget by incorporating an .51 mills tax increase by increasing that millage amount by 6.61 and up to 7.12.

Davis Davis, an incumbent Republican who has been insistent not to increase taxes until 2025, rejected that tax hike, saying that there is enough money in its reserves to cover expenses.

Members of the Council Scutella and Copeland and Copeland, along with Chris Drexel and Andre Horton have and Chris Drexel and Andre Horton voted to eliminate the veto out of consideration instead of deciding to override it.

The decision was taken following the recommendation by the Council’s Solicitor, Tom Talarico, who argued the veto was an unjust move that denied the budget of vital revenues.

Council Democrats also argued that Davis had issued another 17 vetoes that illegally increased the budget’s size. That is, Davis was using his veto power to increase expenses and decrease revenues to the point that the budget was budgeted as balanced, they claimed.

Davis, however, claimed that the council did not have the legal authority to take over his vote. In an update on his campaign’s Facebook page, Davis claimed that his veto was automatically effective after ten days of the council’s non-action under the local law.

The city has adopted the place.

“Since County Council did not take action to override the county executive’s veto, our position is that the 6.61 mills rate is still in effect, and new tax bills are being sent out with that rate,” Betza said.

What will happen next?

County Council on Tuesday was ready to approve an action against Davis to implement the 2025 budget. This would mean rescinding the 17 vetoes as well as stopping the tax collection efforts of the administration.

However,the council decided to defer the lawsuit following receipt of the letter written by Davis on Tuesday, in which Davis agreed to discuss.

Davis said the County Solicitor, Bill Spero,s will prepare a memo tthe o council outlining the administration’s views on each veto.

Davis said Davis said he’s “open to meeting” with council members and negotiating the “mutually agreeable compromise” to the issue.

Talarico claimed that the letter was sent after the administration realized that the council was in the process of filing suit.

Council already had filed a lawsuit against Davis for vetoes that they claimed illegally raised the size of the budgets for 2023 and 2024. The judge, in December, decided infavorr of the council. Davis appealed the ruling. Filed an appeal to the judge’s decision.

Talarico told the council that they will think about having legal proceedings If Davis continues to ignore the council and continues to use the 6.61 rate.

“The last thing you want is to send out a rate and collect $5 million less than you need to pay for the expenditures,” he stated. “If (Davis) goes ahead with that, it’ll make a mess.”

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