Washington County commissioners support cuts to property and income tax rates for upcoming budget

Michael D. Garcia, The Herald-Mail

April 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM·4 min read

Washington County residents could potentially see tax cuts for the upcoming fiscal year — should the county's budget proposal be approved.

The county commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to include in the proposed budget a 2-cent cut to the property-tax rate and a reduction from 3% to 2.95% for the income-tax rate.

The cuts would go into effect if the commissioners approve the proposed budget as-is on May 24. A budget public hearing is scheduled for May 17.

With the county expecting to see a significant amount of surplus this year, according to Kelcee Mace, interim chief financial officer for the county, the commissioners have discussed over several weeks where this surplus could be used.

"We're not going to know what the surplus is until sometime in May," County Administrator John Martirano said.

The current real property-tax rate is 94.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. A 2-cent cut to 92.8 cents per $100 of assessed value would result in a reduction of over $3 million in revenue for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

By way of example, a house valued at $250,000 would have a tax bill of about $2,370 — with the current property-tax rate. With a property-tax rate cut of 2 cents, the tax bill would be $2,320 — a $50 savings.

County Commissioner Wayne Keefer said during the commissioners meeting this week the property-tax rate is tied to the county's business personal property-tax rate.

The county's personal property-tax rate is two and a half times the real property-tax rate.

"It affects mom-and-pop shops, businesses in the community," Keefer said. "So, while we're looking ... to help our property owners, our citizens in Washington County, even renters, benefit from this. Because that's less in property taxes that your landlord would have to pay."

More on Washington County news: Crime report: Offenses in seven categories drop 42% in a decade in county, 29% in city

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He added that the property-tax cut could have positive ramifications for many in the county.

For the current fiscal year, the average homeowner paid $2,341.56 a year in county property taxes, according to Keefer. The average income tax return reports taxable income of $50,980. At a 3% income-tax rate, an average individual pays $1,529.40 — with a total of $3,870.96 of combined property taxes and income taxes.

"That's significant for my family," Keefer said. "I'm sure it's significant for many families ... that's what we ask every family to pay in taxes."

'A win-win for everybody'

In 2019, the county commissioners voted to increase the income-tax rate for the first time in 19 years to 3.2% — which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.

Commissioners President Jeff Cline, Commissioner Randy Wagner and former Commissioner Cort Meinelschmidt voted for the increase. Commissioners Vice President Terry Baker and Keefer voted against it.

The commissioners have made attempts to roll back the income-tax rate, voting last year to cut the rate to 3%.

Commissioner Charlie Burkett, Baker and Keefer have spoken in the past about their objections to the increase, with Burkett being vocal about returning to the income-tax rate before the increase — 2.8%.

During the commissioners meeting this week, Baker suggested reducing the county income-tax rate to 2.95%.

"I'd be on board with that," Burkett said. "If we wanted to be conservative instead of taking it back to 2.8 and ... go (almost) halfway there."

Burkett shared the same sentiment as Baker about being considerate of the next board of commissioners with an election coming up this year.

In addition to property-tax rates and income tax, the commissioners voted for the budget to reflect no increase in water and sewer rates.

"It's been a win-win for everybody," Burkett added.

The county commissioners are still scheduled to have a rate hearing for water and sewer rates due to lab fee increases, according to Mace.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County Commissioners discuss property and income tax cuts

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'A win-win for everybody'

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