I recently gained a deeper understanding of how our property taxes are calculated and wanted to share my findings with you. The city frequently receives inquiries about rising property taxes, and I'd like to break down the key components and explain the factors at play.
Property Tax Components
Our property taxes consist of three main parts: County, School District, and City. While there are additional smaller fees and factors, these three are the most significant. Each entity determines its tax revenue rate or percentage, The city portion is also referred to as a Levy, which is reflected in the Graph provided by Mayor Dennis Fisher. (also available on his website).
City's Portion of Property Taxes
The yellow line in the chart represents the city's portion (or levy), which has decreased from 2018 to 2023/2024. This achievement is attributed to the efforts of Mayor Fisher and his council team. The city's levy is based on the actual dollar amount required to run our city, (Budget) and it's important to note again that this percentage has decreased over the past 4 years.
County's Role in Property Taxation
The county assesses the value of your property, not the city. Over the past four years, the county has increased property values, Although the city's portion has decreased, the county's increase has resulted in higher overall taxes.
How Property Values Are Determined
The county assesses approximately 15-20% of homes annually to determine if their value should be increased. This percentage increase is then applied to all homes in the county. This means that even if your home hasn't been altered/improved/changed, its value may increase due to the county calculations.
City's Growth and Property Taxes
A crucial role in keeping property taxes low: as the cities yearly budget increases, growth helps offset these costs. New homes and commercial buildings generate additional revenue for the city, allowing the levy to remain low. If growth were to stop completely, the city's expenses would increase, leading to higher property taxes.
None of this makes sense!
I agree with you! It does not make sense, so we need to continue to grow to keep taxes low. Yes, we do. We cannot stop growth from happening, and we need growth to continue to keep the cities portion of the taxes as low as possible. Again, I was skeptical of this entire thing, but then I looked at my tax statement. I encourage you to look at yours. On your tax statements go to the section titled Net-tax details. (see example below) and you will see the 7 different categories for taxes, then look at the “CITY OF DAYTON” line, now do a comparison on your 2022, 2023, 2024 statement, and give me your feedback on how much that number changed for you.
In conclusion:
We cannot stop growth from happening, and we need growth to continue to keep the cities portion of the taxes as low as possible. My role as a city council member is to monitor, regulate and control the growth of the city and keep a harmonic balance between growth and taxes. We want our city to grow, but in a positive way!
As a candidate for city council, my responsibility is to understand the fundamentals of property taxes, balance the city's needs and wants, and ensure reasonable/realistic growth while keeping the levy as low as possible. I commend Mayor Fisher and his team for their efforts in maintaining a harmonious balance and would be honored to join their team to continue managing property taxes effectively, and I really hope I get to be a part of city council in the next term to help to keep our city an amazing place to live
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