TSINEWS: County taxes to remain same for Manchester and Tullahoma, increase for rural areas

Property taxes paid to Coffee County will remain the same for residents in Manchester and Tullahoma in the coming year, but rural residents will pay 11 cents more, and Coffee County Schools will have to find a way to deal with a $481,000 cut in revenue, as a result of votes taken Tuesday night by the Coffee County Commission.

The commission, at the end of a three and a half hour meeting, approved a 2011-12 fiscal year budget after approving a motion to keep funding for Coffee County Schools at 2009-10 levels. Rural residents, who did not have a tax increase last year, will have one in the coming year, as the commission voted to replace 11 cents of the rural rate devoted to rural debt service which was removed from the tax rate last year.

Coffee County Schools had requested some $481,000 in additional funding to pay for new and used busses to replace busses which have reached the end of their legal lifetime, under state law. Schools Director Kenny Casteel said that the system may have to look at cuts in bus transportation to make up the shortfall.