Warren tax rate decrease won't match drop in property value

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Ed Richter, Staff Writer 11:13 PM Saturday, January 16, 2010

LEBANON — When Warren County property owners receive their tax bills this week, many will question why they aren’t decreasing as much as the value of their property.

County Auditor Nick Nelson announced last summer that Warren property values would decrease by 11 percent on average after the triennial update, but warned taxes would not reflect this drop.

Nelson said the state’s tax reduction factors cause the effective tax rate to decrease when property values goes up, but those same factors also cause the rate to go up or stay the same when values drop.

“The rates are all over the board,” he said. “A 10 percent reduction in property value could have the net effect of a 3 percent decrease in tax after including the tax reduction factor adjustment and newly approved tax levies.”

Approval of new tax levies and Warren County Commission’s decision to resume collecting the 0.57-mills of inside millage to address budget shortfalls are the other reason why taxes are going up, Nelson said.

The inside millage had not been collected by the county in more than a decade.

Warren County has 62 taxing authorities levying 274 tax rates in 86 overlapping taxing districts.

State law requires the county auditor to determine the estimated fair market value of each parcel. Nelson said the triennial update of property values for tax year 2009 for taxes collected in 2010 has been completed on the 95,000 parcels in Warren County.

He said 80,000 residential parcels had some reduction ranging from 1 percent to 25 percent with the overall county average at 11 percent.

The county’s total tax valuation, with agricultural/residential as well as commercial, tangible personal property, public utilities and industrial parcels, is nearly $6.04 billion for tax year 2008.

Nelson said that the total tax valuation for tax year 2009 is projected to decrease to nearly $5.63 billion.

The first half 2009 property tax bills will be due on Feb. 24. For more information, call (513) 695-1235.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4504 or erichter@coxohio.com.

Share this article