Tax rates are on the rise

With few exceptions, Jay County residents will see their tax rates rise in 2016.
Only taxpayers in Dunkirk will pay a lower rate than they did in 2015.
Everyone else’s will increase from last year, but not by much, and they’ll stay below 2014 levels.
Dunkirk’s total rate of $3.8391 per $100 is down from last year’s $3.861, though both rates are the highest in the county for those years.
At least three factors are behind Dunkirk’s lower rate. Its net assessed value — the value of properties taxes are paid on, as opposed to a higher total value including properties under tax abatements — increased to $47.9 million from $45.9 million in 2015.
And its city tax rate decreased to $1.9120 from $1.9464 last year, including a 2-percent cut to the general fund rate.
Dunkirk Mayor Gene Ritter did not return a call seeking comment on the decrease. Clerk-treasurer Tina Elliott declined to comment, citing her newness to the position that she took over in January.
Also contributing to Dunkirk’s rate is that Dunkirk Public Library is the only library rate that decreased, down to $0.2376 from $0.2418.
Most taxpayers will see an increase of 1.4 percent for Jay County Public Library. Pennville and Penn Township property owners will pay 4.7 percent more for the Penn Township Library, up from $0.0339 in 2015.
The total rate for Portland residents is up to $3.2832 from $3.1196. That includes an increase of 10.5 percent in its city rate to $1.5211.
“The big thing that affected it was we gave out all these tax abatements in the last 15 months,” Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman said.
Last April, FCC Indiana was granted a 10-year abatement on $6.39 million in real property for a 76,600-square foot expansion.
Net assessed value for properties in Portland dropped almost $10 million to $206,028,549 from $215,881,709 last year.
Another factor is payment for Hudson Family Park’s fourth phase, which included amphitheater work, an extension of the park’s trail system, a playground, a shelter and landscaping.
The first three phases of the $4.2 million project were paid in cash out of the city’s general fund, Geesaman said. The fourth is a separate $1.7 million bond, which is how he says each phase should have been done.
Despite the increase, Portland’s city rate is the lowest of the city and town rates in Jay County.
That’s due largely to the city’s “strong manufacturing base,” Geesaman said.
The taxes factories, along with Wal-Mart, pay take the burden off citizens he added.
All property owners will pay a rate of $1.0129 to support Jay School Corporation. That’s up 1.8 percent from $0.9946 last year.
The rates for school capital projects and pension debt have decreased, while those for debt service and transportation increased.
The county tax rate is down slightly to $0.646 from $0.6472, despite a 62-percent jump in the JEMS rate to $0.0466 from $0.0288.
The portion of county taxes for the cumulative bridge fund was cut in half to 0.03 after county engineer Dan Watson said during the budget process he could get by for a year at that rate.