Putnam Budget Committee will have to weigh its options for revenue funding after learning that a state-mandated ratio study has affected property tax intake.
Committee Chair Ben Rodgers said the study occurs every two years and compares real estate property sales and property values from the latest reappraisal year. He said the goal is to balance out the two funds as market values change.
Rodgers said that Putnam County should be receiving some $2.3 million in property tax revenue growth. He said due to the study, the county is only able to actually realize about $1.3 million.
“All these people buying property, building houses, buying houses at higher amounts,” Rodgers said. “Well, that in turn is affecting the amount of personal property and public utility taxes we can collect based on a state law saying their taxes have to be equalized just as real property is every five years.”
Rodgers said consultant Gabe Looney explained the ratio process to the budget committee at its meeting Thursday night. He said now that commissioners understand the process, the next steps will be to decide just how to fund the upcoming fiscal year budget to make department requests financially possible.
Rodgers said that could potentially come in the form of a property tax increase. He said the budget committee will continue budget discussions after the next Putnam County Commission meeting.
“The reason for a property tax increase anytime is that department requests have come in higher than anticipated revenue and our revenue driver is property tax and sales tax,” Rodgers said. “The commission has the authority over it, our sales tax it’s capped at the percentage it is, so we go to property tax to balance budgets and this year there’s a huge department request from our department heads, but at the same time we have that ratio study.”
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