The Marion County Board has voted 11-3 to not raise its tax levy for next year’s property tax bills.
The vote came after about two dozen taxpayers filled the board room to complain about what some called unreasonable assessments and would have negative impacts on the community. Former Board Chair Janet Carter Sullens once again called on the board to sharpen their pencils and make cuts.
The first vote taken at the meeting was to table the tax levy. Board member Brock Waggoner made the motion after arguing the board didn’t even know where its finances stood as a result of audits not being completed for the past few years. That vote failed on an 8 to 6 vote.
The second vote to have a zero percent levy increase came after board member Steve Whritenour noted the board’s budget consultant Bellweather indicated the county’s reserve fund was larger than necessary.
“We have $ 4 million in the bank that has been reported to our General Fund and we are supposed to keep a reserve of 10-15% of a $13-million budget. To me that says we should have between $1.3 to $ 2 million in reserve. Well, we have double of that. So I think we can take that $256,000 that we were trying to capture with this levy, take it out of the General Fund, and then re-evaluate everything once our audit is up to date. It’s hard to say since our audit hasn’t been done in 2 years.”
Board Finance Committee Chair Chris Krupp, who joined in voting for the 0-percent increase even though the budget included a five-percent levy increase, felt the county was okay with the reduction.
“You are going to see another increase in salaries next year so that’s when I believe we will find out next year, cause we can only levy that 5% on top of what we did this year. So we will see where that puts us. My only concern would be that.”
Krupp confirmed the county for several years has stayed above the minimum reserves of $1.2 to $1.5 million that Bellwether has recommended. Even at the zero percent levy increase, the county government will still collect $ 2 million in property taxes for the general fund.
There was also a question if the board could vote a second time for a zero percent tax levy increase after it failed at the last meeting. After a phone conversation with County Clerk Steve Fox, Board Chair Debbie Smith said the second vote was legal.
Both Whritenour and Supervisor of Assessments Mark Miller emphasized the county board should not be the only stop for taxpayers concerned about their bills.
“The county actually is the smallest part of the property tax bills. You need to be going to the other taxing bodies as well to make sure they are managing their money property. I’m not saying they are not, but I think it is good to visit all of the taxing bodies.”
And for those who feel their tax assessments are not justified, Miller is encouraging them to file a complaint with the Board of Review by the December 21st deadline. He says those who have had their own appraisal completed should attach it and no hearing may even be necessary to lower the assessed value.
