I think you may be wrong on this issue JD. It is assumed that the milage rate will increase to $565,000 per mil from $511,000 per mil.
The milage rate is dropping 5.7%, because it was a one time increase for the Sheriff's screw-up. But the milage rate is increasing 9.6%. It doesn't matter how you do the math, you will receive a tax increase over last years tax bill. Well, maybe you won't, but those who live in Anderson will. - willieh
Willieh, you're mixing up the "value of a mill" with the "millage rate." I'm not sure it's possible to have a rational discussion with someone who truly doesn't understand the difference.
But I've read most of your posts, and I suspect you know the difference. I think you're deliberately clouding the issue for purely political purposes. Am I right?
If I am, that's just as dishonest as that little postcard somebody sent out blaming the person asking for information from the county for the legal costs incurred by the county for fighting those requests.
Are you fighting them, or joining them?
- JDTippett
So, if the mils stay the same, but the value of the mil goes up, we may not have a tax increase?
That's like saying if Arnold at Arnold's Famous Hamburgers orders 100 lbs of hamburger each day, and the price of hamburger goes up, he won't have a cost increase for the hamburger. Even if he still orders 100 lbs., per day?
Come on, I ain't the brightest bulb in the box, but I know if my mils are the same as they were in '06, but the value of the mil goes up, I am getting a tax increase.
It's all a shell game, JD. We really won't know what the tax increase will be until after the June 10th primary.
But rest assured, there will be one as the budget stands now.
Even if we don't have a marked increase this year, we still are getting hit with an increase because last years was supposed to be temporary.
They just happened to make it temporary in the year before reassessment.
I'll bet you a dozen Krispy Kremes, that if the budget stays the same as last night we will have a tax increase.
- willieh
Dangit, Willieh, now you've done it. You've made me pull out the ol' calculator and THINK, and they don't pay me to think on The Cocklebur.
First, let me repeat: Whether or not you will pay more taxes after reassessment depends largely on what REASSESSMENT did to the ASSESSED value of your home and property. If it took a big jump, then, yes, your tax bill will probably go up. If it went up less than 5-10%, or went down, you'll probably pay the same or less even if County Council raises the millage RATE a bit.
I know some homeowners don't like hearing that the ASSESSMENT value of their property has gone up suddenly, but there's a bright side to that, you know. If your ASSESSMENT value took a big jump, that means your APPRAISAL value has probably jumped too, since the assessment value of your house is supposed to be, by law, at least 95 percent of its appraisal value after the newest reassessment. Some homeowners who aren't paying attention like to call that "government theft." Others who understand it for exactly what it is are smart enough to recognize it as EQUITY. (I like equity, don't you?)
Now, let's get back to that discussion of VALUE OF A MILL versus MILLAGE RATE.
The VALUE OF A MILL is basically determined by taking the total assessment values of every taxable property in the county, multiplying those that have an ASSESSMENT RATE (oops, new term there - bear with me) of 4% (that would be primary residences) by .04, those with an assessment rate of 6% (as in second residences, most businesses, industries, etc.) by .06 and those with an assessment rate of any other percentage by their respective percentages. Then you add those together and multiply the whole kit and kaboodle by .001 (one mil = 1/1,000.)
(There are some variables in there that I should mention before somebody else does, but don't let them confuse you: Fee-in-lieu-of properties, exempt properties, etc. And those things do make for a difference between the value of a county mill and the value of an education mill, since many of those agreements and exemptions don't include school taxes or taxes for other "educational" projects like Tri-County Tec, libraries, etc. I know I mentioned it here. Just ignore it. It has nothing to do with RESIDENTIAL taxes.)
So, taking all those numbers into account, Anderson County has estimated that the value of ONE MILL for the upcoming year will be about $565,000, as opposed to about $511,000 for the current budget. That means that OVERALL TAXABLE PROPERTY VALUES in Anderson County rose by just under 10 percent since the last reassessment. That 10 percent has only a passing relationship to your personal property values.
Let's use some easy numbers here, since ol' JD is an English major and complex numbers give him a headache.
Let's say that in the current budget, Anderson County's tax millage RATE was 100 mills. I have no idea what it really is because, again, even LOOKING at spreadsheets sends me to the Excedrin.
Let's also assume that if a mill in the current year is worth $511,000, and Council authorized 100 mills, that would have generated $51,100,000 in property tax revenue.
For the upcoming year, though, the estimated value of a mill is $565,000. Using last year's BASELINE number of $511,000 per mill, it would take only about 90.5 mills to generate that same $51,100,000.
State law prohibits County Council from just leaving the millage RATE at 100 mills, because that's what is known as a WINDFALL. The State doesn't like WINDFALLS when they benefit a COUNTY (although they used to get pretty derned happy in Columbia back in the 1980s and early 1990s when Earle Morris was Comptroller and he would suddenly find an extra $125 million or so in WINDFALL money those legislators could use to fund their pet projects. Too bad Earle lost his touch for finding millions of dollars when he was Chairman of the Board of Carolina Investors, huh?)
To avoid a windfall, the elected auditor and hired staff who theoretically understand these things estimate the new value of a mill, then point out to Council that they only need to charge 90.5 mills to generate exactly the same amount of money as they got last year from property taxes.
So, Council starts with an assumed working number of 90.5 mills - a 9.5 mill REDUCTION from last year. (As an aside here, ol' JD warned y'all a year ago that Crenshaw's $2.5 million "loan" that was covered by a "temporary" tax would disappear into the fog of reassessment this year. It did. In the hypothetical scenario I'm laying out for you here, it's part of that $51,100,000 and is rolled right into the BASELINE number with nary a backward glance. Clever, really clever, but I so saw that hidden PERMANENT tax increase coming.)
Anyway, back to windfalls and the budget process.
Starting at 90.5 mills and $51,100,000 from a year ago, Council can actually wiggle a 1% SPENDING INCREASE from a loophole in the law that allows up to that amount of increase in spending. Call it "Finnigan's Finagling Factor."
Additionally, they can increase more based on normal inflation rate and what they could have expected in increased tax revenues even in a non-reassessment year. Let's assume in our case here that would be 4% or so. (The exact number is difficult to pin down, so we we'll call that a "S.W.A.G." - "Scientific Wild-Ass Guess" - for now.) Take the 4% S.W.A.G. for inflation, plus the 1% Finnegan's Finagling Factor for a 5% increase in expenses. So 5% of $51,100,000 would be $2,555,000.
With the new value of a mill being $565,000, Council could add about 4.5 mills ($2,555,000 divided by $565,000 = 4.522) to the new BASELINE millage rate of 90.5 mills for a total of 95 mills WITHOUT RAISING A RED FLAG to the State.
Then, they have the authority to add even more millage for specified projects - AND AS LONG AS THEY DON'T ADD MORE THAN ANOTHER 5 MILLS to the 4.5 for normal inflation and growth, they still stay at or below the 100 mills they set this year AND CAN BRAG THAT THEY DIDN'T INCREASE TAXES.
Now, Willieh, you can't get all of that in a 30-second soundbite, but COUNTY COUNCIL can honestly say, if they keep the millage at or below the current year's millage rate, that they DID NOT INCREASE YOUR TAXES over last year's millage rate.
But assessment values have gone up. The STATE mandates those reassessments every five years (it used to be every 10 years.) So if your PERSONAL TAX BILL goes up, don't call County Council. Call your state SENATOR or state REPRESENTATIVE. They're the ones who make counties do these things.
Oh, and Willie, I still think you're probably the only one who reads this forum - other than, perhaps, a handful of county employees - who isn't confused by the above dissertation. You know exactly what's going on, don't you?
I hate lazy politics. If you're going to hammer somebody over an issue, at least explain the issue.
Here's are the questions to ask them (adjust it to reality, not my hypothetical situation I outlined):
QUESTION NO. 1: Never mind last year's millage rate of 100 mills. If reassessment has lowered the required millage rate to generate $51,110,000 from 100 mills to 90.5 mills, would not any Council-authorized millage level above 90.5 be a TAX INCREASE? If not, why not?" QUESTION NO. 2: "If the 'temorary tax increase' to cover Sheriff Crenshaw's $2.5 million cost overrun last year really is temporary, shouldn't you be rolling back from the BASELINE TAX REVENUE number to give a baseline of $48,600,000 instead of $51,100,000? Doesn't rolling back from last year's MILLAGE RATE make that 'temporary tax increase' from last year a PERMANENT one carrying forward to every year from now on?"
Go ahead. I dare some enterprising reporter to frame the questions that way. And tell Gina and Joey I have plenty of extra Excedrin if they need it. I'll share.
