By Craig Anderson

SMYRNA — Smyrna Town Council on Monday night voted to double 2024 property taxes in a move designed to close budget gaps that have built for years, Mayor Robert Johnson said.

In a prepared statement read at the public meeting, Mayor Johnson said the effect of limiting tax increases for years created a deficit that reached more than $4.2 million for the 2024 budget passed March 26.

The mayor explained that “for many years, the town turned to one-time revenue sources likes transfer taxes and impact fees, along with utility revenue, to fund our general operations.

“This depleted resources for capital improvements and infrastructure maintenance, and also required funding for our pension plans.”

The added taxes will allow the town to fund a roughly $41.5 million operating budget and approximate $13.8 million capital budget.

The tax rate will increase from $0.47 to $0.94 per $100 assessed property value, according to town officials. Taxes are due in September.

“We know the residents are going to be upset but taxes have to go up because we want to provide good service for them,” Mayor Johnson said Tuesday.

“A town belongs to everybody. If prices go up around us (in the county and state), then everybody has to take care of that. It’s not that we want to do this but, for years, we didn’t raise taxes very much.”

The mayor said he had received little feedback from residents on the increase as of Tuesday.

In the prepared statement, Mayor Johnson said Town Council’s decision was not made “[l]ightly or quickly, knowing this increase will personally impact all citizens and businesses in our community. ...”

Ultimately, though, according to the mayor, “unless the town wants to face unsustainable debt, giving up our utilities and police protection to third-party providers, and compromises to the level we can provide citizens, the increase is vital,”