From a lengthy story in the Elkhart Truth:
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As of 2009, at least, property taxes in the county's four towns, Middlebury, Millersburg, Wakarusa and Bristol, tended to be lower than in the larger cities of Elkhart, Goshen and Nappanee. Call it a perk of small-town life.
But since then, the difference has narrowed, and now the tax load of homeowners in the four towns seems to be approaching that of the three cities.
Credit the 1 percent property tax cap on homes that went into effect in 2010. It's capped the tax load on a $100,000 home in Elkhart, Goshen and Nappanee, where tax rates are higher, at $1,000. In the four towns, though, where tax rates are lower, keeping tax bills from bumping the $1,000 lid, the tax burden has continued to edge up. Consider:
• From 2009 to 2012, property taxes on a $100,000 home have increased minimally in most parts of Elkhart — by just 0.5 percent in the Cleveland Township portion of the city and 1.8 percent in the Osolo Township part of Elkhart. In the section of southern Elkhart in the Concord Community Schools district, taxes actually fell by 6.4 percent.
• In the same period, the tax bill on a $100,000 home increased 28.6 percent in Bristol, 18.1 percent in Middlebury and 17.4 percent in the Clinton Township portion of Millersburg.
• Taxes for 2012 on a $100,000 home are still lower in Middlebury, Millersburg, Bristol and Wakarusa compared to the $1,000 bills in Elkhart, Goshen and Nappanee, but barely in some cases. In Middlebury the total bill is $982 and in Millersburg it's $946.
• In 2009, property tax bills on $100,000 homes in Middlebury, Millersburg, Bristol and Wakarusa were 9.1 percent to 33.5 percent lower than in Elkhart, Goshen and Nappannee. By 2012, the difference narrowed, and bills in the three locales were just 1.8 percent to 12 percent lower.
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New tax caps approved by state lawmakers and since enshrined in the Indiana Constitution by voters took full effect in 2010. That's when the tax rate for homeowner-occupied homes fell to 1 percent of a structure's assessed valuation.
The move was meant chiefly to keep a lid on homeowners' property tax bills. But it's had other impacts, notably reducing the amount of property tax funds entering the coffers of cities, counties, libraries and other governmental units, forcing them to cut back or find other revenue sources.
And now, judging by the Elkhart County example, it appears that the caps are having the effect of narrowing the differences in what homeowners pay from locale to locale.
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http://www.etruth.com/article/20120625/NEWS01/706259971/0/FRONTPAGE
