Wewa votes not to raise millage for 2023-24 fiscal year
The millage rate for property taxes in Wewahitchka will be no higher than it has been for the past several years, and could come in lower, depending on what city commissioners do in the next several weeks.
At the city’s July 28 meeting, commissioners unanimously voted to leave the city’s millage rate unchanged at 6.1133 mills, so that remains the ceiling, as per state law.
The rollback rate, which is the amount needed to retain this year’s ad valorem revenue at the same level, is 5.3768 mills, which is 0.7365 mills below that of the tentative millage rate.
“We will have to advertise that there’s an increase in taxes even though there’s not an increase in the millage rate,” said Wewahitchka Mayor “The income will be greater.”
Because Wewa saw growth in its tax base, keeping the millage unchanged will yield higher property tax revenues.
Property Appraiser Mitch Burke said Wewahitchka saw a 17.32 percent growth in its tax base this year and a 34.1 percent increase over the last two years.
This brings the city’s overall taxable value to about $83.5 million. Therefore, should the millage rate remain the same, the city can expect to bring in about $88,400 in addition to what they received in the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year.
Meet the Editor
Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.
Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.
While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.