A ton of folks in my area saw their property taxes increase by 30-40%...I believe my parents were slated for about a 37% increase in theirs. When they went to dispute/challenge said reappraisal, the local officials they talked with claimed that the state government has encouraged local governments to raid the taxpayers while home sale values are high.
The state government, meanwhile, has a record rainy day that it isn't dishing money out of to either the localities or directly back to the taxpayers.
I included both of you on this because it's been a burning question in my mind for awhile.Nobody likes to pay taxes, obviously. I have worked for a county agency for the last 20 years and we have to run levies to continue providing services, so I kind of look at levies a bit differently now. Unfortunately, just like everthing else in our country, prices to operate a school system and other county agencies have increased. I think you need to determine if your school a "good steward" of those taxes. I've never voted against our local school levy. They provided a pretty good education for me, my wife and my 4 boys. Good schools are often a reflection of a strong city. But I also understand the other side where some folks just can't afford the increases or feel the schools are wasteful.
So, a few months back, 700 wlw had a county auditor on air (Butler I think but could have been Warren) and he explained property taxes this way:
The taxes collected are only the amount required to fund the levies. So a levy that collects say 1 million per year , will not get 40% more if property values increase 40%. He said if properties A + B + C = $600,000 in valuation, they each pay their share of what the entire levies require to collect. So as I understand it, if reappraisal finds each property increases by 40%, AND NO CHANGE WAS MADE TO THE LEVIES CURRENTLY IN EXISTENCE, no property owners would see any increase in taxes even though they all got reassessed at 40 % more.
I'm thinking this seems to ring true, as I review my tax billed for this year. I actually paid less on some properties but had higher assessed values.