However, City, County raise rates to cover budgets
V. Hugh Lewis II/Jefferson Jimplecute
Confused about property taxes? Join the club.
This year the City and County are proposing raising the property tax rates, but those new rates will still be less than last year’s tax rate, and it will generate more revenue for each entity.
The Marion County Hospital District is proposing a “No New Revenue” rate, while JISD, which has a far more complicated calculation, is proposing an almost $0.20 cent reduction.
Increased property valuations, as set by the Marion Central Appraisal District (MCAD), and tighter restrictions on how much property tax rates can increase per year, have created this situation.
Each taxing entity has to provide an NNR rate which would raise the same amount of revenue as last year. Then the limits the entity can increase that rate are applied. Limits requiring voter approval (VAR) are also calculated.
Marion County has a NNR rate of $0.4829184. The VAR is $0.6338430. This is the combined for both General Fund and Road & Bridge.
Commissioners proposed a combined tax rate of $0.5222930 for the 2023 tax roll. This is a $0.02 increase over the NNR, but is still less than the 2022 rate of $0.54. The two cent increase will generate an additional $161,992 in revenue.
JISD is proposing a Maintenance & Operations tax rate of $0.7380 and an I&S rate of $0.547, or a combined rate of $0.7904. Both rates are lower than last year’s rates of M&O $0.9308, and I&S of $0.0547, for a combined rate last year of $0.9855. Essentially, the school district’s proposed rate will save homeowners approximately $87.67 and is an NNR rate.
The City is also proposing a small tax rate increase, but, overall the rate will be significantly less than last year. The 2023 rate proposed is $0.4186110, while last year’s rate was $0.45.
The Hospital District chose to work with their same revenue as last year, thus adopting an NNR rate of $0.0428979. This is a reduction in the tax rate from last year of 0.0482551.
The Hospital District tax works to serve the indigent, or poor, population in the county with medical expenses.