Next week we have an election for local issues and/or levies. We’re all too familiar with issues being written such that a ‘NO’ vote is really a ‘YES’ vote. It can be so confusing.
Today we had a meeting with the Franklin County Auditor’s staff giving us a presentation on the new features of their web site. During one of the slides, he showed us the tax estimator page which allows residents to see the dollar change the levy or issue would have on future taxes. As we were reviewing the information on the web page, we noticed an inconsistency to what the language of the proposed levy said versus the impact on the property tax.
The Proposed Levy Says It’s A Decrease
The proposed levy is promoted as a “replacement levy” that will be a “decrease” in taxes. The old levy that expires was a 3.15 mill levy. The new replacement levy – if voters approve – will be a 3.10 mill levy. OK, that’s a decrease.
HOWEVER, levies can only collect a maximum amount of money. If property values or the number of households/businesses increases, then the millage per parcel may actually be lower than millage that was voted in. That’s what happened to this original levy. Even though voters originally voted for the 3.15 mill levy, it’s actually being collected at a rate of only 2.010197.
The Proposed Levy Will Actually Be A Increase
If voters approve the 3.10 Replacement Levy, they may actually see an INCREASE to their taxes since instead of collecting at the 2.010197 rate, taxes may be collected at 3.10 mill rate. So that will be an increase, not a decrease.
Using a Hilliard home as an example
Using a Hilliard home as an example, the Auditor shows an assessed value of $149,800. The annual tax payment for this home is $3497. Using the Auditor’s tax estimator, if the replacement levy passes, instead of paying $7.69 for the current levy, the new replacement levy would collect $11.85.
So that’s how a Replacement/Decrease levy can result in an increase to the tax you may actually pay.
While I’ve used a particular Franklin County levy as an example, the discussion can really apply to any county and any levy. The key point is that rather than just accepting what the levy ballot language is, do a little checking to see how it differs from what is currently being collected. You can be sure that the proponents of this replacement levy aren’t going to mention that households may pay more. They want to put a positive spin on the levy so voters will pass it. Plus, they are correct in that it is a decrease … you just may not see that decrease when your property tax bill arrives in the mail.
BE AN INFORMED VOTER … THEN VOTE!
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This is a great post Elaine. I’ve read a lot of ink regarding the issues but did not come across this information.
Solid research example for informed Franklin County voters to know and understand before they hit the ballot box.
We realized this at yesterday’s Tech Users mtg. As we were looking at the big screen, someone in the room said, “wait a minute”. Of course, the Fra Cnty site is so good that it makes it easy to check these numbers.
There were some other good questions & comments by people who work in your area that made me glad I work in the suburbs!