Worcester County residents could be facing a hike of as much as 7.25 cents in their property tax rate to close a $17 million budget shortfall.
Worcester Commissioners say they do not want to raise the property tax.
But the Salisbury Daily Times reports this could be changing.
Commission President Bud Church told the paper that he felt a tax increase is inevitable.
He said that how much will depend entirely on what the state does – especially on a proposal to shift half of the teacher pension fund cost to the county.
He said that could range from $700-thousand to several million dollars.
The fiscal 2013 budget shortfall represents the gap between $154.9 million in revenue and $171.9 million in expenditures.