Property taxes are expected to climb and Warren County employees are not expected to get pay raises next year, according to the first draft of a budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

“No pay increases are in these numbers,” County Administrator John Smith told supervisors Wednesday in the first of three days of budget talks this week. Meetings with department heads are scheduled into mid-August.

A first draft of a budget for fiscal 2013 shows $15 million in spending and $14.6 million in revenue — a nearly $400,000 shortfall traced to a 24 percent drop in personal property taxes outside Vicksburg. Those are taxes on assets not fixed to land, most commonly inventories held by businesses.

The shortfall comes in lower assessed values on industrial machinery, farm equipment and other items.

The five-member Warren County Board of Supervisors appears poised for the third year in a row to zero out its spending plan for its 17 departments, 14 offices run by elected officials, support of state-run offices, nonprofits and other entities. The closely balanced budget will mean no raises for sheriff’s deputies and road workers and making up revenue through a tax hike.

To balance spending next year, taxes levied by the county must rise by 2.56 mills, which translates into highly variable increases in county taxes. It means a $12.80 increase for every $50,000 in assessed value on homes and businesses and a $25.60 hike for every $100,000 assessed.

The tax bills are mailed out in December for payment in the early months of 2013.

Supervisors expect to adopt a budget on Sept. 4 following a public hearing. This year’s budget began with $14.8 million in spending and a $111,000 surplus despite 3 percent raises across all county departments.

This year, real and personal property assessments were contracted out to private companies.

Smith met with Tax Assessor Angela Brown after the meeting, where neither could quickly determine how the personal property roll fell. Calls to Brown and to John Lewis of Florence-based Statewide Appraisal Services, the firm hired to appraise personal property, weren’t returned Wednesday.

Overall land values in Warren County fell about nine-tenths of a percent this year compared to last year, to $3,612,451,149.

Spending items show a $3.4 million budget for the sheriff’s department. Requests from the department had factored in raises of about 7 percent for investigators, deputies and clerical staff. The road department request wasn’t submitted with other departments this month.

Road Manager Buddy Poole and Sheriff Martin Pace plan to meet with the board this week.

On a rosier note for the sheriff, eight new vehicles and a backup radio system at $400,000 might be funded this year. Those appear in the gaming fund, which grew this year due to population shifts outside Vicksburg in the 2010 census. Revenue-based taxes to the county are $188,926 ahead of fiscal 2011, with two months to go.

Also listed on the first draft from gaming were $12,000 in renovations and new furniture in the records room in the chancery clerk’s office and a $90,000 tandem truck for the road crew. An additional $12,000 is eyed to lay carpet in the tax collector’s office. New copiers and office equipment in the circuit clerk’s office could add to a $90,750 spending estimate there.