Lincoln County Tax Collector-Assessor Nancy Jordan addressednewly annexed citizens’ concerns about the prices of car tagsduring Tuesday night’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

Jordan explained there is a legislative credit that is based onthe value of the individual vehicle, and that it is only applied tothe price of the car tagonce. The rest of the cost is based onmillage rates.

“Regardless of where you live, you get the same legislativecredit based on the value of your car,” she said.

The citizens in the annexation area were paying county taxes andBrookhaven separate schools taxes, Jordan said, and the legislativecredit was taken from that price. When the city tax levy was added,there was no more legislative credit to be taken out of the overallcost.

“They already gave us all the legislative credit they could.When the city millage rate was added, there was no more legislativecredit,” she said. “It’s the value times the millage rate with nomore legislative credit, and that equals how much more theypay.”

Jordan was quick to stress that the millage rates, or tax levys,are set by the county Board of Supervisors and the Brookhaven Boardof Aldermen. City officials are also required to set a tax levythat will bring in enough money to fund the Brookhaven SchoolDistrict’s funding request.

The tax office, Jordan said, has nothing to do with any of thedecision making, only the collection.

Also, it’s possible that the amount looks higher because allthree of the taxes are combined on the same bill, Jordan said.

“It’s looking at it as a whole,” Jordan said. “If you were goingto different places to pay them all separately, it might looksmaller.”