Corbin BOE approves property tax increase

The Corbin Board of Education voted Thursday to increase property taxes.

By a vote of 4-0, the board approved a 4 percent increase in the rate.

Superintendent David Cox recommended the increase from 64.1 cents per $100 of assessed value to 66.7 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Board members Kim Croley, Todd Childers, Carcille Burchette and Keith Gibson voted to approve the motion. Board member Stephen Mullberry was absent.

As a result, the school taxes on a home valued at $100,000 will increase $26 from $641 to $667.

“Everything continues to go up,” Cox said in recommending the increase explaining that the additional funds would be used to pay operational expenses.

Cox said the increase would result in an additional $125,000 in revenue for the school system.

Cox explained that the largest expense the school systems faces is salaries, which accounts for approximately 85 percent of the annual budget.

“That is very low when compared to other school systems,” Cox said explaining that most other school systems pay out more than 90 percent of their budgets in salaries.

“We get one chance a year to do this by law,” Cox explained. “If you don’t do it, you can’t go back and undo it later. You have a two-week window to do it.”