The Jefferson County Commission is weighing whether to raise property taxes to offset projected revenue losses as a result of a rollback on tax rates following an increase in assessments.

A public hearing on the increase will be held at 7 p.m. March 24 at the Jefferson County Courthouse, and will allow citizens to voice their concerns to the commission, according to a notice on the county’s Web site. A decision on the rates will be made following the hearing.

As property assessments go up, tax rates go down. Because the percentage of property assessments has climbed in the last year, property tax rates have rolled back to levels lower than last year.

The rollback for Class II rates, which is the residential rate, is 17.44 cents per $100 of assessed value of property. The proposed increase for Class II properties would bring that rate to 18.98 cents.

The county assessor could not be reached to give an estimate as to how much the increase would affect the average homeowner’s tax bill. Collected countywide, the increase would generate $838,315, the notice indicates.

Commissioner Dale Manuel said he is undecided on the matter.

“I want to hear what the constituents have to say about it,” he said. “The public has a right to participate in a decision-making process. This hearing is to let the people speak about what the new rate should be.”

At the same time, Manuel said the commission must determine what next year’s budget will look like. A thorough review of the budget will allow officials to gauge whether a crisis is looming, he said.

“There’s a lot of responsibilities that county government has when it comes to funding. We need to ascertain what we need for this budget and determine if we are in a crisis or not,” he said. “If there is a crisis, then we may compelled to do this, but we don’t know at this particular time.”

If commissioners agree to raise rates, Manuel said he would not agree to use the monies to cover the cost of a new judicial complex.

Commissioner Jim Surkamp does not favor the increase and said he plans to vote against it.

“I’m not convinced there is a need and I think it’s an especially bad time to add additional burdens on taxpayers, given the state of our economy,” he said. “I think it’s very ill-timed.”

Surkamp said the county should be commended for having the lowest tax levy rates among the state’s 55 other counties. “As property values go up (the county’s) tax rate has to shrink. We’re still paying a lot of taxes,” he said.

“I believe if we have to find other monies, we have to specify the project and hold a referendum to determine if the public wants it,” he said, mentioning possibly looking at a bond. “I don’t support what amounts to an increase.”