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With this chart you can see how the one cent reduction in the tax rate ($0.77 per $100 of assessed property value) drives down the tax bill as compared against last year's rate. Comparing my June tax bill against this chart, I'm seeing a similar reduction. Most everyone else should see comparable savings as well unless there was substantial property improvements that changed your assessed property value.
I recognize that the savings from 2022 to 2023 will be modest for most homeowners but this is just the next step in the right direction. The tax rate and tax revenue equation is something we need to discuss year-round. Every one cent reduction in the Real Estate tax rate equates to about a $1M reduction in tax revenue. With last year's tax rate reduction, that's approximately $2.5M of tax revenue we've driven out of the budget over the past two years.
By no means am I patting myself on the back with those savings. While I'm happy with the progress we've made so far with regards to reducing the tax rate, I feel that effort should be simply considered normal county business. Balancing the annual and future revenue needs of the county against opportunities to reduce the tax burden is something to consistently review. For example, even though we passed the FY2024 budget in just our last meeting, I've already met with the county assessor, in part, to get an understanding of what the next Real Estate assessment could bring us. That information is now starting to drive thoughts into what impact that might have on next year's tax rate.
I hope the example above was helpful. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.
Finally, I'd like to wrap up this newsletter with hopes that all the mothers out there had a great Mother's Day. My wife and daughter traveled to visit her mother while my son and I got to spend the afternoon with my mom. But we all made it back together in time to take my wife out to dinner Sunday evening. I hope your day was as blessed as ours was.
Best Regards,
Stephen
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