From the Bloomington Herald-Tribune:
True, the city’s reauthorization of its Cumulative Capital Development Fund will raise property taxes in the city, a red flag for most Hoosier homeowners.
But it makes solid fiscal sense, nonetheless.
The tax actually will not be much of a hit for property owners, costing less than $25 a year for a homeowner whose residence is valued at about $100,000.
That’s $50 for a homeowner whose house is in the $200,000 range, still not a big percentage increase in tax bills that run into the thousands of dollars for many.
The tax has always been collected but has not been reauthorized for several years, a fact that basically froze that rate at about half what is now permitted under Indiana law.
Provided the reauthorization makes it through several more required hoops, it will be set at 5 cents for every $100 of assessed value up from the current 2.7-cent rate, and is expected to raise an extra $750,000 a year, a relatively tiny amount for a city of this size.
But with serious budget problems looming as state mandated revenue restrictions begin to take a serious bite, it will help a little. The money would, as the fund title indicates, go to such things as sidewalks, bike paths and trails — projects many Bloomingtonians want — protecting the city’s shrinking general revenue fund while still supporting those projects.
Low taxes help to make places livable — true. But the amenities that taxes pay for also add significantly to the livability factor. A balance is required that keeps tax demands reasonable while revenue from those taxes can also pay for not only crucial civic responsibilities such as police and fire, but for those features that make people want to live in a particular place. This nicely strikes the balance.
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2012/07/17/digitalcity.reauthorization-of-tax-fund-good-fiscal-decision.sto
