County to consider new property-tax rollback
A resolution that could lead to a new property-tax rollback is on the agenda of the Delaware County Commissioners' July 28 meeting.
The commissioners will consider a resolution to hold hearings Aug. 18 and Aug. 22 to address changes in the county’s tax code, county communications director Jane Hawes said in a press release.
“Their discussions about a property-tax rollback date to last year’s budget discussions,” county Auditor George Kaitsa said in the release. “When we recently realized we also needed to update a sales-tax resolution from 1971, we felt it would be prudent to address both issues at the same time.”
The property-tax rate available for current expenses of the county is 2.8 mills and Delaware County is currently collecting 1.8 mills for current expenses. This resolution will further reduce the millage collected and will provide additional property tax relief, Hawes wrote.
Shari J. Lewis of the county auditor's office told ThisWeek the difference in the available 2.8 mills and the collection of 1.8 mills is due to a 1-mill reduction done in conjunction with a sales-and-use tax replacement implemented by the county commissioners in 2007.
"The entire 2.8 mills is inside, unvoted millage. This is currently the only reduction in the county’s property tax rates," Lewis said.
The county first rolled back the inside millage by 0.8 mills in 2000, ThisWeek reported earlier.
Kaitsa will provide revenue estimates associated with various reductions in the property tax for consideration by the commissioners, Hawes wrote.
The sales-tax resolution being addressed was passed 51 years ago as an emergency measure, Hawes wrote. It doesn’t allow the county to pledge the revenues collected from the 0.5% tax toward any borrowing needed for capital projects.
If approved by the commissioners after completion of the hearings, the update will allow the county to pledge this sales tax for future borrowing needs, she wrote.
“The update will further strengthen our already strong financial position,” Kaitsa said, “and I feel confident that the commissioners are committed to making the best use of the financial tools we have on hand.”
The July 28 session begins at 9:30 a.m. in the second-floor Judge Henry Shaw hearing room of the Historic Courthouse at 91 N. Sandusky St., Delaware.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: County to consider new property-tax rollback
