County preparing 2008 tax bills

Graphic courtesy of Indiana Department of Local Government Finance

County Treasurer Carolyn White said she has received the certified tax rates from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) and began printing property tax statements Tuesday afternoon.

She expects to have the completed statements in the mail before the end of July.

The due date for the first installment payment is Aug. 15 with the second installment due on Nov. 10.

This year"s tax statements are late in going out because of changes in the tax formula by the General Assembly.

The statements are normally sent out in April and due in May. Last year, the statements were mailed in late June and were due in July.

White said this year"s bills are different.

"It"s going to take more printing this year because I have to include a comparison statement that the state has required for every tax bill. Therefore, I can"t use a folder because when you use a folder it throws them out and mixes them up. There is going to be a tax statement print and then a comparison sheet is going to be right behind it," she explained.

The statement of tax comparison was authorized in the passage of House Bill 1001.

The comparison will show the 2007 gross tax rate, the 2008 gross tax rate and note the percentage of change in tax due. There will also be an explanation of the formula used in computing the rates and individual bills.

White said the extra sheet included in the tax bills will be more work, but it is required.

Another change this year will be a tax statement will be mailed to mortgage companies and homeowners. In the past, only the mortgage company that was paying the tax was sent a tax statement. The new legislation requires that a duplicate bill must now be sent to the property owners.

"The statement (to the homeowners) will tell them not to pay, but they have it this year. We"ll have more postage and our postage has gone up since last year," White said.

She pointed out that postage to mail out his year"s tax bills will run about $10,000.

In order to get a better bulk postage rate, White noted that her office will wait until all the statements are printed, folded and put into envelopes.

"They"ll all go out at the same time. In order to get the pre-sort rate, we have to sort them and we"ll take them to the post office all at the same time," she added.

Many property tax bills will be higher this year.

According to the DLGF, property taxes represent a property owner"s portion of the local government"s budgeted spending for the previous year. Increases or decreases depend upon a local government"s fiscal management, the assessed valuation of a property and/or local tax rates, which are based on the budget proposals submitted by local government taxing entities that provide services to each community.

To calculate an individual"s property tax bill, the county official takes the tax rate multiplied by the assessed value after all deductions are subtracted and after all state credits (homestead and property tax replacement credits) are applied. Tax rates are determined by dividing the estimated amount of funds to be raised by the local unit of government by the net assessed value of all property in a county, minus the applicable deductions.

The county"s net assessed valuation is $12,281,400 for 2008.

What is the difference between a tax rate and a levy?

A tax rate is the percentage used to determine how much a property taxpayer will pay. A levy represents the total amount of funds a local unit of government may collect on a tax rate. In other words, the levy is a cap on the amount of property tax dollars a local government is allowed by law.

According to figures provided by the DLGF, the total net increase in tax levy for Pay 2008 in Greene County on a county-wide basis will be approximately $2.1 million or 8.79 percent.

Residents in Jasonville, the MSD of Shakamak School District, and the Eastern Greene School District look to be hit the hardest.

In the city of Jasonville, the total city levy will increase $38,405 or 14.5 percent.

The total school levy in the MSD of Shakamak District will increase $216,680 or 20.38 percent. The DLGF noted that the Debt service increased 25.73 percent due to payment increases in 2008 Capital Projects increased 41.55 percent and bus replacement increased 68.22 percent because funds from those accounts have been used for pension neutralization, but levied higher in 2008.

In the Eastern Greene School District, which just completed a high school building project, the total school levy increase will be $1,201,887 or 44.57 percent. Individual gross township rates in the Eastern School District range from and increase of 17.04 percent in Jackson Towship, to 18.60 percent in Center Township to 18.99 percent in Beech Creek Township.

County-wide gross rate increases were registered in just seven of the 24 township, city and town taxing units.

A legal notice to taxpayers detailing the 2008 Greene County Tax Rates by taxing unit will be published in the July 10, 17 and 24 editions of the Greene County Daily World.

Changes in Gross Tax Rates by Township and Town