DeKalb County Council moves forward on new local option income tax

The ordinance will include an end date on the tax of Dec. 31, 2016, a motion made by King and passed by a 4-3 vote.

Seven residents spoke during a public hearing on the tax, led by Concerned Citizens of DeKalb County chairman David Powers. Powers was especially critical of the council during a 20-minute talk, saying the body has been negligent in its handling of the county budget and that a new tax would not solve its ills.

"We see the council's attempt to impose these taxes upon us as a symptom of an underlying illness in county government that continues to go unaddressed and unanswered," Powers said. "We contend that if our elected officials would seriously address these root causes and make serious changes in the way business is done in the county, then such increases in taxes would be unnecessary."

After the income tax discussion, the council voted to table consideration of increasing the property tax rate of its Cumulative Capital Development Fund from 1.99 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 3.3 cents — the maximum the county can impose. The revenue generated could be used to fund any sort of capital project, though the county has earmarked it for repairs to bridges.

The council will consider that rate increase – which Auburn City Councilman Mike Walter called during a public hearing "a dirty trick" – at its July 7 meeting. The council said the public should have more time to digest the issue.