From the Evansville Courier-Press:
As the May 10 property tax deadline approaches, Vanderburgh County residents are seeing higher rates — and probably higher bills.
Tax rates increased in every taxing district this year. The biggest increase came in Pigeon Township outside of city limits, but there aren't many residential and business properties there. The second biggest came in Pigeon Township within the city limits. Property owners there saw a 0.1922 percentage-point increase since last year and its tax rate now stands at 2.94 percent the highest rate in the county.
A 0.1 percentage-point rate increase on a $100,000 property from one year to the means an additional $100 on a tax bill. Pigeon Township covers Downtown and areas north of the Lloyd Expressway, as well as properties south of Waterworks Road.
The biggest non-city rate increase came in German Township, which now has a 1.752 percent tax rate after a 0.1278 percentage-point increase.
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Rate increases can be attributed to several factors, but one of the primary contributors is decreased net assessed values.
"For some areas in Vanderburgh County, the property values have dropped," said Vanderburgh County Assessor
Bill Fluty. "Not all, but some."
In 2012, the net assessed value — which excludes properties that don't pay taxes, such as churches — of Vanderburgh County properties was $6.7 billion.
In 2011 and 2010, those values were $6.9 billion and $7 billion, respectively. They hovered around $8 billion in the preceding years.
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So 2012's net assessed value figure of $6.7 billion was divided into the county's $41.6 million levy. The resulting tax rate, regardless of where ones property is located, was set at 0.6176 percent.
That rate is added to township rates, school rates and other rates, depending on the taxpayer's location.
Although levy amounts have fluctuated, they haven't stayed in line with the decreases in net assessed values to keep the tax rate the stagnant.
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Property values alone don't paint the net-assessed-values picture. Property values can be stable and officials still may see a drop in net assessed values.
This may happen as a result of an appeals and deductions.
If a person buys a home for $125,000 and it's assessed at $150,000 for the coming year, the owner can appeal that assessed value."They can use that sales information to appeal the assessment and try to get that lowered," Gries said, adding that new appraisal information can be used as well.
Gries said deductions can also lower assessed value. They include those for having a homestead, having a mortgage and being a veteran.
In 2008, for instance, the state introduced the supplemental homestead deduction. That reduced the county's net assessed value by approximately $1 billion to $6.995 billion, Gries said.
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For government units in Indiana, increased tax rates often means more lost money because of tax caps. Homesteads are taxed at 1 percent and residential and farmland properties are taxed at 2 percent. No matter what the rate in that taxing district is, that's all they have to pay.
Because of these "circuit-breaker" credits, Gries said, the taxing units here won't see some $10.5 million in anticipated tax revenue this year.
"That's the highest it's ever been," Gries said, "and it keeps going up because tax rates keep going up."
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http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/may/06/no-headline---ev_propertytaxes/
