The Putnam County Budget Committee recommended a new certified property tax rate of 1.6392 during its Tuesday meeting.
Budget Committee Chairman Ben Rodgers said the rate was adjusted slightly from an initial estimate of 1.61 following hearings held by the Board of Equalization. Rodgers said the certified rate is a product of the state-mandated reappraisal process and is designed to bring in the same amount of revenue as the previous tax rate of 2.66.
“Now some people’s taxes went up, some people’s taxes are going down, that’s reappraisal,” Rodgers said. “That’s not been created by the County Commission in Putnam County or by any member of this commission. That’s the state process, okay.”
Rodgers said the only revenue growth the county will capture through this process comes from new building construction rather than existing property value increases. Rodgers said the value of one cent on the tax rate is now $396,034, which is a decrease of approximately $5,000 from previous figures.
“Basically means it balanced, that’s what the whole point is so it’s an estimate before but after they did the full calculations it created a balance tax rate,” a committee member said.
Assessor of Property Steve Pierce said the impact on individual taxpayers depends entirely on how much their specific property value increased compared to the county average. Pearce said the average increase for residential property was 69 percent, while commercial property saw an average increase of 74 percent.
“If their increase was 69 percent or less they’re going to pay the same or less depends on the percentage and if they’re if it’s more they’re going to pay more because you got to figure it’s half so I mean if it’s if it’s average half are over that half are under that,” Pierce said. “And it’s just about property types different property types sale better on the market they’re more marketable so that’s why there’s a difference in it is different property types.”
Pierce said most taxpayers he spoke with saw changes ranging from a $200 increase to a $300 decrease. Pierce said the base rate for each property type is calculated using specific sales data from the market.
“I didn’t see anything big now the people I talked to and I talked to a lot $100, $200 max,” Pierce said. “Now somebody had told me that they thought theirs was going up 400 I didn’t figure that one so I don’t know who that was told me that but 100, $200 is as the max I’ve heard.”
A committee member said the average home in Putnam County is now appraised at approximately $350,000. Pierce said that while the actual average is closer to $345,000, the math remains consistent for most homeowners.
