Many Decatur County homeowners will pay higher property taxes this year.
The first installment of the taxes is due May 12.
Homeowners can expect to pay more this year because home values generally have increased, and the tax rate, too, is up.
If the tax rate increases, homeowners pay more taxes even if their home value has remained the same.
If the tax rate increases and their home value goes up, the bill goes even higher — unless they already have hit their 1 percent Constitutional tax cap. The cap limits a homeowner’s taxes to 1 percent of the home’s value. For example, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 can be charged no more than $1,000 in property taxes.
Decatur County Assessor Dorene Greiwe said home values generally increased in the last year — though how much depends on the neighborhood.
Tax rates, meanwhile, increased for all taxing districts, from Adams to Washington Townships.
In Greensburg city, the district that covers the largest number of Decatur County residents, the tax rate this year is 2.5398, up 7.6 percent.
For the owner of a home assessed at $100,000, that increase means an annual tax bill of $908, up from $844 last year. The figures were calculated using standard and supplemental deductions. The tax bills for owners of homes assessed at $150,000 or $200,000 are unchanged, at $1,500 and $2,000, because they already had hit their tax caps last year.
Homeowners who already had hit their tax caps last year will pay higher taxes this year only if their home value has increased.
Last year, homeowners who took standard and supplemental deductions hit the caps if their home was valued just above $129,000. This year, tax caps take effect just above $114,000. A homeowner with a home assessed at $114,000 can pay no more than $1,140 in property taxes annually.
...
