Many think that the tax collection is an open-ended number.....i.e., the more you can collect the more you can spend type of thing......not so. The budget is a fixed number......money is collected to satisfy that number. (I didn't want to complicate matters with levy applications, as the end result is the same. Just keep in mind that the levy amount (millrate) is calculated LAST)

At the County level the Formula goes something like this Budget = (value of property) times (levy rate)

Both budget and value are fixed numbers......levy rate is the variable that when multiplied times value produces the budget number (a predetermined amount)