City of Lexington votes to raise property taxes in recent meeting

LEXINGTON, Tenn. — It could be considered one of the largest property tax increases for residents in one local town.

The City of Lexington Board had their regular monthly meeting Monday and the concern for most of the citizens has been the vote by city leaders to increase property taxes.

“We do have a budget, it’s a tight budget and we’ll have to stay within our means. But, I believe that our department heads and city hall will work hard to stay within that budget and I feel like going forward that we’ll be fine,” said Lexington Mayor Jeff Griggs.

There were claims of a possible 74% property tax increase for the city and a 27% increase in the county before last the council meeting July 29. Board members voted to raise the city property tax 15 cents while county leaders voted to not increase the county property tax.

“We did raise taxes last year a small amount and then they came back and raised it this year a small amount. But, we had went a bunch of year without having a tax increase and I think with inflation it just caused us to have to have one,” said Mayor Griggs.

According to Mayor Griggs, they started their budget meetings months ago to give the community an opportunity to see how the money is being spent, whether it be the utility budget or the city budget. So, he hopes as they continue to be transparent in spending, citizens should get an idea of why they need a tax increase.

“We’re not the only city that’s been going through this. If you look all across West Tennessee and across the state there’s other cities or counties that’s had a tax increase this year too so it’s just not Lexington,” said Mayor Griggs.

Mayor Griggs says he wants to keep the taxes as low as possible and continue to progress Lexington forward to improve their quality of life.

When asked about how the additional money from the property tax would be used, Mayor Griggs couldn’t immediately give specifics. However, he did say it would help cover the cost of inflation that many cities have experienced across the region.

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