The Winchester Board of Commissioners voted to approve a modest increase to the property tax rate in its regular meeting Tuesday.
The tax rate for 2012 will be set at 14.6 cents per $100 of assessed value, up from a rate of 14.5 cents per $100 in 2011. Citizens with property valued at $100,000 paid $145 dollars last year in city property tax. That will increase to just $146 for 2012.
This compensating rate is estimated to give the city nearly the same revenue it received last year.
The board also approved an agreement with Time Warner Cable that allows the city to purchase the communications tower on Van Meter Road.
Time Warner owns the tower and leases its use to the city. The city owns the land and leases it out to Time Warner.¿The agreement allows the city to purchase the tower in exchange for allowing Time Warner to house its equipment at the site at no charge for 10 years.
The city will purchase the tower for $1 to maintain a bill of sale.
The board also received a request from Winchester Federal¿Bank to close Bullion Avenue from Brady’s to Cross Brook Lane on Oct. 20 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for the Harvest Family Fun Fest, a fall festival.
The commission agreed to speak with business owners along that route before making a decision.
In other business the board,
— agreed to back an effort by Mike Butler to get an historic sign installed marking the site of the Pastime Theater Disaster of 1918, which killed 11 people and injured numerous others.
— awarded The Allen Company the bid for the fiscal year 2013 paving program.
— appointed Stephanie Roarx to the Winchester-Clark County Recreational, Tourist and Convention Commission for a three-year term.
Contact Casey Castle at ccastle@winchestersun.com.
