Will bond issue raise or lower taxes?
Monday morning on KFAQ I reported what Mayor Bill LaFortune has been saying about the upcoming general obligation bond issue -- that your property taxes will be lower than they are now if the bond issue passes.
Turns out it depends on how you look at it. The Mayor is comparing the sum of the last five years, which includes a very high number in 1999, with the sum of the next five years. Here's the city's levy per $1000 net assessed value from FY 1999 through FY 2011.
1999 - 13.80
2000 - 12.20
2001 - 12.00
2002 - 11.70
2003 - 11.20
2004 - 11.10
2005 - 10.00
Projected if bond issue passes:
2006 - 10.30
2007 - 11.10
2008 - 12.20
2009 - 12.30
2010 - 13.00
2011 - 12.95
In a nutshell, the bond issue will make your property taxes will go up, but not as high as they have been in the past.
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Would our property taxes go down if this bond issue fails? Just curious...
YES - THE cities portion of the property tax will continue to decline until new bond issues are passed .
Wouldn't a lower property tax attract people (tax-payers) to move into the city?
Thanks for the information Michael. As a new home owner in Tulsa County, I was very curious about my property tax going up or down.
My read is that if Vision 2025 had not passed, property taxes would have gone down.
Put another way, April 5's bonds mean an increase because of 2025.
I have decided to vote no on each of the bonds. I don't like the idea of not supporting infrastructure. But I want to insist that pay as you go does not mean frills added, ie, 2025. I admit I am looking for debate to persuade me otherwise.
Roy, that's not correct. Vision 2025 raised the county sales tax. It had no effect on property taxes. It's easy to get confused, because some people call any tax-related vote a "bond issue". To make it more confusing, Vision 2025 revenue bonds have been issued, but those will be repaid by the Vision 2025 sales tax receipts as they come in over 13 years. Tulsa's vote on April 5 is a general obligation bond issue, sometimes called a GO bond for short -- it will be repaid by an increase in the property tax rate.
Thanks, Mikael. Or maybe not, on account you are persuading me to increase my taxes...;(
I tend to lump all taxes into one hopper labeled
"tax". That means I have to remind myself that some items supported by taxes differ from other items.