In a special called meeting last night, the Crossville City Council voted to raise property taxes five cents in a first reading of the 2020-2021 budget.

The property tax rate would increase to 64.05 cents per $100 of assessed value.

A small increase in water and sewer rates for residents in the city is possible with the new budget.

The proposed budget is just over $17.4 million, a decrease of the over $18 million set for the previous year.

Crossville City Manager Greg Wood said the city lost money on tax revenues when many businesses closed because of the governors executive orders during the COVID-19 situation. Wood added he is concerned about a second coronavirus outbreak that some medical experts say could happen in the fall. Should that take place, Wood is prepared to reduce the budget further. City officials are projecting around a 10 percent decrease in sales tax revenue (roughly $700,000) in the new fiscal year.

The budget has to pass a second reading at the city council’s regular meeting June 9, 2020 and a third reading sometime later this month before going into play. Wood said the tax rate increase could be adjusted or possibly taken out in either of those readings.