PORT GIBSON — Monday, the last day for local governments to set tax rates for their new fiscal years, supervisors in Claiborne County OK’d a 10.43-mill hike, upping the county’s total levy to 91.17 mills.

The increase means the county’s taxpayers will pay $100.43 more per $100,000 of assessed valuation on property taxes due in January. The average price of a home in Claiborne County is $52,000, meaning the average property tax increase will be between $45 and $50.

Most money for Claiborne County, which has about 12,000 residents, and for Port Gibson, the county seat, will continue to come from the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station, which pays based on a state-set assessment. About half the $3 billion plant’s tax bill is paid to local governments and the remainder is allocated to cities and counties receiving power from the state’s only nuclear plant.

Allen Burks, president of the county board, said the tax increase could have been larger.

“We had a number of increases we had to consider,” Burks said. “We initially thought we were going to have an increase of 20 mills, but we were able to save some money and prevent the increase from being so high.”

Of the total increase, 3 mills will fund public schools.

“The school district is allowed to ask for up to 4 percent more than they got in the last school year’s budget,” Burks said. “The 3 mills was within that 4 percent, so it was state-mandated that we give it to them.”

The remainder will go to debt service and the county’s general fund.

Proposed spending for the new year is down to $11.3 million from this year’s $13 million due to completion of capital projects being funded by long-term debt service.

Increases in the 2009 budget include $81,885 for raises, $182,083 for ambulance service, $150,721 for the road department for balloon payments on leased equipment, $33,600 for an equipment lease for the chancery court and the tax assessor, $20,000 for a telephone service contract and $130,000 for gasoline.

In Claiborne County, a mill raises about $50,000, so the rate hike will generate a little over $500,000 in new money. Still, Burks said, there were cuts.

“We were able to get rid of eight full-time positions,” he said. “We had an analysis done of our phone system and we think we can save some money there and then we were able to save some money in the office supplies and equipment category by cutting down.”

The potential savings equal $284,000, he said.

“This board was challenged with the concept to cut services or raise taxes,” said Burks. “We cut optional costs. We found a happy medium.”