In a special meeting that took less than 3 minutes to complete, the Blytheville City Council voted 5-0 to keep the city's millage rate at 4 mills, Tuesday afternoon.
All five members present voted to keep the rate unchanged, instead of raising it to 5 mills as originally proposed. Council members voting for 2013 tax rate, payable in 2014, included John Musgraves, Stan Parks, Tommy Abbott, R.L. Jones and Kevin Snow. Councilwoman Missy Langston was unable to attend the meeting.
Though the resolution generated no discussion Tuesday, the Council's Finance and Purchasing Committee addressed the issue during its Oct. 21 meeting.
The board recommended keeping the rate at 4.0, after fielding concerns from residents opposed to a millage hike.
Officials have estimated that the 1 mill increase would have generated about$136,000 for the General Fund.
The General Fund rate remains at 3.0, while the Firemen's Pension and Policemen's Pension remain at 0.5 each, according to the resolution.
The 4.0 mill tax is levied against each $1 of value of the taxable real and personal property as the value is set and fixed for state and county purposes for the year, the resolution reads.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com